Morphological Characteristics of Sugar Palm [Arenga Pinnata Merr.] Seedling Growth Based on Cotyledon Petiole Position

Abstract

Sugar palm is a bioenergy plant with great potential in food security, biopolymers, biofuel, and herbal medicine. Sugar palm seed germination is indicated by the appearance of cotyledon petiole, where there are several different positions. Morphological characteristics of sugar palm seeds at various positions of cotyledon petiole are not currently available. This research aimed to study the morphology characters of sugar palm seedlings with different cotyledon petiole positions. The research applied Experiment in Completely Random Design with four treatments, each repeated three times. The four treatments are the cotyledon petiole position, namely P1: cotyledon petiole in right-center, P2: cotyledon petiole in left-center, P3: cotyledon petiole in left-bottom, and P4: cotyledon petiole in right-bottom. The results showed that morphologically, there was no significant difference in the sugar palm seedling growth with each cotyledon petiole position [256 DAS]. Range of seed height 47,63-57,50 cm, range number of leaf midribs 2-3,33, range of primary root length 13,73-21,76 cm and, range of secondary root length 28,60-44,26 cm.