Abstract

BackgroundTo exploit the ornamental and medicinal purposes of Lonicera harae Makino, L. subsessilis Rehder, L. praeflorens Batalin, and L. insularis Nakai, native to Korea, it is necessary to understand their seed ecology for propagation. In this study, we investigated the seed dormancy type and germination characteristics of seeds of the four Korean native Lonicera species.ResultsThe seeds of the four Lonicera species imbibed water readily, suggesting that the species do not have physical dormancy. Furthermore, the seeds exhibited underdeveloped embryos with only about 15–25% of the length of the seeds at dispersal. The embryos grew to the critical length with approximately 50–80% of the length of the seeds’ development before radicle protrusion. Further, 94.4% and 61.1% of freshly matured seeds of L. insularis and L. harae germinated within 4 weeks after sowing at 15 °C and 20 °C, respectively. Contrarily, L. praeflorens and L. subsessilis seeds did not germinate within 4 weeks under all temperature treatments. At 15 °C, L. praeflorens seeds started to germinate from 5 weeks and the final germination rate was 51.1% at 13 weeks. At 15 °C, L. subsessilis seeds started to germinate from 5 weeks after sowing and the final germination rate was 85.6% at 17 weeks after sowing. Embryo growth and germination of L. praeflorens and L. subsessilis occurred at a relatively high temperature (≥ 15 °C).ConclusionsOverall, L. insularis seeds have only morphological dormancy. The seeds of L. harae have approximately 60% and 40% of morphological dormancy and morphophysiological dormancy, respectively. Contrarily, L. praeflorens and L. subsessilis exhibited non-deep simple-type morphophysiological dormancy that requires relatively high temperature (≥ 15 °C) for embryo growth and dormancy breaking. The optimum temperature for the germination of seeds of L. insularis, L. harae, L. praeflorens, and L. subsessilis was 15 °C, 20 °C, 15 °C, and 20 °C, respectively. There was interspecific variation in seed dormancy and germination patterns in the four Lonicera species. The difference in these characteristics within the four Lonicera species could be useful for understanding the seed ecophysiological mechanisms of Lonicera species.

Highlights

  • To exploit the ornamental and medicinal purposes of Lonicera harae Makino, L. subsessilis Rehder, L. praeflorens Batalin, and L. insularis Nakai, native to Korea, it is necessary to understand their seed ecology for propagation

  • Water imbibition test The mass of the seeds of L. insularis, L. harae, L. praeflorens, and L. subsessilis was increased by approximately 50%, 90%, 35%, and 40% after 3 h of water imbibition and more than 60%, 170%, 50%, and 70% after 48 h of water imbibition, respectively (Fig. 1)

  • At 15 °C, the freshly matured seeds of L. insularis and L. harae germinated to 94.4% and 61.1% at 4 weeks after sowing, respectively

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Summary

Introduction

To exploit the ornamental and medicinal purposes of Lonicera harae Makino, L. subsessilis Rehder, L. praeflorens Batalin, and L. insularis Nakai, native to Korea, it is necessary to understand their seed ecology for propagation. We investigated the seed dormancy type and germination characteristics of seeds of the four Korean native Lonicera species. L. insularis Nakai and L. subsessilis Rehder are Korean endemic plants that are distributed along the shore of Ulleungdo and from Pyeongannam-do to Jeollanam-do in Korea, respectively (Jeong et al 2014; KNA 2019). To exploit these plant resources, investigating germination characteristics and seed dormancy type is needed

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