Preliminary Study on Seed Dormancy and Germination Characteristics of Paeonia lutea Wild Population on West Mount, Kunming

It is of great theoretical and practical significance for conserving the wild tree peony germplasm resources to study the epicotyl dormancy characteristics of these species and the effective enhancement measures for the seed germination. Having been treated with different ways, the rooting and germination experiments were conducted with the seeds collected from wild population of Paeonia lutea in the West Mount of Kunming City under different temperature conditions. The following conclusions were drawn from the experiment results:Methods of soaking the seeds in solution of 200 mg/L GA₃, contusing the testa around umbilicus and soaking the seeds in 50℃ water could all improve the radicle growth, and the effectiveness order was 200 mg/L GA₃ solution soaking> testa contusing> 50℃ water soaking. Soaking the seeds with 200 mg/L GA₃ solution could break epicotyl dormancy of the rooted seeds and enhance the germination, and the effect was even better on seeds with radicles longer than 3cm. 5℃ low temperature condition alone could not effectively break epicotyl dormancy of the rooted seeds. 15℃ temperature was comparatively appropriate for both radicle growth and seed germination of Paeonia lutea.