Abstract
<i>Vicia hirsuta</i> (L.) Gray S.F. (tiny vetch) is a common and persistent segetal weed. Tiny vetch seeds and pods reach different stages of maturity during the crop harvest season. Some seeds that mature before cereal harvest are shed in the field and deposited in the soil seed bank, while others become incorporated into seed material. The objective of this study was to describe selected aspects of tiny vetch seed ecology: to determine the rate of individual reproduction of vetch plants growing in winter and spring grain crops and to evaluate the germination of seeds at different stages of maturity, subject to storage conditions. The seeds and pods of <i>V. hirsuta</i> were sorted according to their development stages at harvest and divided into two groups. The first group was stored under laboratory conditions for two months. In the autumn of the same year, the seeds were subjected to germination tests. The remaining seeds were stored in a storeroom, and were planted in soil in the spring. The germination rate was evaluated after 8 months of storage. Potential productivity (developed pods and flowers, fruit buds) was higher in plants fruiting in winter wheat than in spring barley. Vetch plants produced around 17-26% more pods (including cracked, mature, greenish-brown and green pods) and around 25% less buds in winter wheat than in spring barley. Immature seeds were characterized by the highest germination capacity. Following storage under laboratory conditions and stratification in soil, mature seeds germinated at a rate of several percent. After storage in a storeroom, seeds at all three development stages broke dormancy at a rate of 72- 75%. The high germination power of tiny vetch seeds stored in a storeroom indicates that this plant can be classified as an obligatory speirochoric weed species.
Highlights
The segetal species of the wild-growing Vicia hirsuta (L.) Gray S.F. are semelparous plants that rely exclusively on generative reproduction
The objective of this study was to describe selected aspects of tiny vetch seed ecology: to compare the rate of individual reproduction of vetch plants growing in winter and spring grain crops, to evaluate the germination rate subject to the morphological diversity and maturity of seeds upon harvest, and to determine the effect of storage conditions on seed germination
The generative reproduction rate of tiny vetch in winter and spring crops was investigated by Pawłowski (1966)
Summary
The segetal species of the wild-growing Vicia hirsuta (L.) Gray S.F. (tiny vetch) are semelparous plants that rely exclusively on generative reproduction. The segetal species of the wild-growing Vicia hirsuta (L.) Gray S.F. (tiny vetch) are semelparous plants that rely exclusively on generative reproduction. Seeds are the reproductive unit in tiny vetch. Mature seeds are shed by dry, cracked pods. According to Kornaś (1972), the released generative diasporas of tiny vetch spread by autochory (ballochory and barochory) and anthropochory, mainly speirochory with the sowing of mostly grain crops. In the crop harvest season, the seeds and pods of tiny vetch reach different stages of maturity. Some of the seeds that mature before cereal harvest are shed in the field and deposited in the soil seed bank. The remaining seeds are collected with the crops, i.e. cereal grain
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