Cephalotus Seed Germination...only a theory

From: Doug Burdic (dburdic@presys.com)
Date: Wed Sep 02 1998 - 12:15:51 PDT


Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1998 12:15:51 -0700
From: Doug Burdic <dburdic@presys.com>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2878$foo@default>
Subject: Cephalotus Seed Germination...only a theory

Hello All,

I'm no expert by any means on this plant, but I wanted to pass on
something I noticed several years ago when I was trying to germinate
the seeds produced after selfing my plants. This is going to sound
strange, but what the heck: Sowing the seeds in the same pot which
contains a mature Cephalotus plant resulted in a high germination rate,
while seeds from the same batch sown in an identical pot located right
next to the other one, produced nothing. Might be coincidence, but I
tried this several years in a row and ended up with the same results.
There is a biochemical inhibition phenomenon exhibited by some plants
called allelopathy, which inhibits the germination of other species
through the release of some chemical(s) which retard or inhibit the
germination and growth of competitive species. With this in mind, I
surmise that the reverse reaction could also be a possibility in some
plants like Cephalotus, whereby the plant releases certain chemicals
that help break seed dormancy. Like the subject line says, it's only a
theory at best, but is worth experimenting with.

Good luck,

Doug



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