Variation in Seed Characters of Amorpha fruticosa Among Different Provenance

A systematic study was conducted to explore the variation in biological characteristics of Amorpha fruticosa seeds among 9 provenances collected from 6 provinces in its natural distribution area. Two major sets of indexes had been tested. The first set was morphological indexes including the seed longitudinal diameter, transverse diameter, and the ratio of longitudinal and transverse diameters. The second set of indexes reflected seed quality, including 1000seed weight and germination rate with or without testa. The results showed that there were significant differences in each index tested among the different provenances. The study indicated that there were certain correlations among the characteristics and the geographical factors, but the correlations were not significant. Some characteristics were significantly correlated with climatic factors, e.g., the germination rate before and after peeling was significantly and positively correlated with the annual rainfall amount; the seed longitudinal diameter was significantly and positively correlated with the duration of frostfree period. Whereas the seed transverse diameter was significantly and negatively correlated with the altitude where the seeds were harvested. The germination test showed that the germination speed and germination rate of seeds from 8 provenances were distinctively higher after peeling, and there were less hard kernel left at the end of germination test, which indicated that the testa of A. fruticosa seeds had certain constraining influence on its seed germination. There was great difference in the germination speed among the different provenances when the seeds were not peeled, the seeds of provenances collected from west China germinated faster than the seeds of provenances gathered from east part of China.