Temperature requirements for seed germination in species of the genus Allium L.

Abstract

For taxonomic purposes and because many wild relatives of Allium crops are endangered in their native habitat (Sancir et al., 1989), a collection of Allium species was built up in the IPK at Gatersleben. At present it consists of more than 3000 accessions representing about 330 species. In this context it was necessary to study the seed germination behaviour and dormancy of certain wild Allium species. Therefore, seeds of 91 wild and three cultivated Allium species were tested at germination temperatures of 5°, 11°, 16° and 26°C. The purpose of this study was to develop routine germination tests for the genebank work with wild alliums.