Seed dispersal pattern and germination test ofRhodiola sachalinensis

Abstract

The survey of seed dispersal ofRhodiola sachalinensis was carried out in Changbai Mountain in 1997. It was discovered that the dispersal of seed is not equal in all directions, but concentrates in the East and North to the cluster.Rh. sachalinensis seeds for germination test were collected from Changbai Mountains area (Antu County, Jilin Province) and Dahailin Migrating Conservation Base (Dahailing Forestry Bureau, Heilongjiang Province). The seeds were treated with 2% KNO3 for 10h and 0.02% GA3 for 5h immediately after the collection. The germinating rate (85.33%) of the seeds from Dahailin was obviously higher than that (72.66%) from Changbai Mountains. After being stored at 0–5°C for 10 months, the seeds were treated again with the same concentration of hormone mentioned above for germination test. The experimental results showed that there was almost no difference in germinating rate between newly collected seeds and 10-month storage seeds, which indicated that low-temperature storage can extend the life of seeds, and that the germinating rate increases with increasing of hormone concentration.