Abstract
Eremurus spectabilis is a perennial herbaceous species that grows in the wild. Commonly consumed as a vegetable, it is also classified among medicinal plants and popular ornamental geophytes. Germination is not achieved under normal conditions because of seed dormancy. In this study, various combined treatments were experimented with to improve the germination and emergence performance of E. spectabilis seeds. The seeds were immersed in solutions of potassium nitrate (KNO3: 5 mM for 24 and 48 hours), calcium chloride (CaCl2: 5 mM for 24 and 48 hours) and subjected to tip cutting. Pre-treated seeds were then subjected to moist-cold stratification periods treatments for different durations (30, 50, 80 and 100 days). In the 5 mM KNO3 treatments, 48-hour KNO3 and 100 days of stratification treatments had better germination (11.1%) and emergence values (9.7%). In the 5 mM CaCl2 treatments, 24-hour CaCl2 yielded better germination (10.2%) and emergence (8.4%) values. Seed tip-cutting treatments were the most successful among all the treatments for the germination and emergence parameters.
Highlights
E. spectabilis is a perennial herbaceous species growing in the wild and belonging to the Eremurus genus of the Liliaceae family (Tuzlacı, 1985)
Dormancy is known as a seed-resting period, and it has been classified into five categories: physical, morphological, physiological, morphophysiological and combined dormancy (Baskin and Baskin, 1998; Li et al, 1999; Baskin et al, 2000; Baskin and Baskin, 2004; Mamut et al, 2014)
The control group was excluded from the experiment since there was no germination in the control group
Summary
E. spectabilis is a perennial herbaceous species growing in the wild and belonging to the Eremurus genus of the Liliaceae family (Tuzlacı, 1985). Plant shoots and leaves are cooked and consumed as a vegetable. Apart from nutritional values, the plants are used for medicinal purposes. Different sections of the plant are used for treating fungal diseases, diabetes, jaundice and liver disorders (Tuzlacı and Doğan, 2010; Tosun et al, 2012; Pourfarzad et al, 2014). As with other Asia-originated Eremurus species, E. spectabilis has recently been categorized as a popular ornamental plant geophyte and used in cut-flower production practices, especially in mild climate zones (Schiappacasse et al, 2013). Dormancy is known as a seed-resting period, and it has been classified into five categories: physical, morphological, physiological, morphophysiological and combined (physical plus physiological) dormancy (Baskin and Baskin, 1998; Li et al, 1999; Baskin et al, 2000; Baskin and Baskin, 2004; Mamut et al, 2014)
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