Effect of Temperature and Storage on Seed Germination of Archontophoenixalexandrae H. Wendl. and Drude (Arecaceae)

Marina Romano NOGUEIRA, Marcos Vieira FERRAZ, Petterson Baptista da LUZ, Suzana Targanski Sajovic PEREIRA, Kathia Fernandes Lopes PIVETTA, Roberto Jun TAKANE

This work had as goal to verify the temperature's effect on the germination of seeds. The experiments were carried out at the laboratory of Seeds Analysis of Horticultural Plants of the Department of Plant Production, at the University of Agrarian and Veterinary Sciences, UNESP, Campus Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil. The experimental design was interely randomized in factorial scheme being six temperature conditions (25ºC, 30ºC, 35ºC, alternate of 20-30ºC, 25-35ºC with photoperiod of 12 hours  and environment temperature) with 4 repetitions of 25 diaspores (seed with adherent endocarp). The fruits were collected from matrices localized at Jaboticabal, and were pulped (removal of mesocarp and exocarp). The diaspores were dried at shade and their water content was determined were placed in plastic boxes (gerbox type) containing vermiculite. Diaspores that emited the germinative intumescence were daily counted until stabilization of germination. The germination percentage and the Speed of Germination Index were calculated.