Articles
GERMINATION OF ORNAMENTAL PLANT SEEDS: INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM
In many cases, our interest in the germination characteristics of a particular species lies in the economic use of seeds as propagules.
In the bedding plant industry, for example, uniform germination and growth is essential for successful marketing of the product.
Seed is also often the most convenient means of propagation of ornamental woody plants.
The utilization of seeds of ornamental species, however, is hampered by the fact that there has been very little selection for horticulturally important characteristics of the seed.
In agronomic crops where the seed is the marketed commodity, selection for seed quality and germination has naturally accompanied the domestication of the species.
In ornamental species, the flowers, foliage, fruits or overall morphology are the horticulturally important characters, and little selection specifically for seed qualities has occurred.
One then must adopt the role of the ecologist in attempting to understand the environmental cues which have evolved in the species to regulate germination.
Investigating the dormancy mechanisms and devising means of overcoming them to achieve economically useful levels of germination presents a challenge which must be addressed anew for each species considered.
The expanding markets for bedding plants, landscape ornamentals and species for revegetation of industrial or mining sites have placed increasing demands upon the germination and quality of seeds used for propagation.
This symposium was convened in recognition of the need for more scientific information on the production, technology and physiology of ornamental plant seeds.
The information which exists is often available only in scattered reports, or is developed for proprietary interests and is therefore not publicly released.
The purpose of the symposium was to review our knowledge of several key aspects of the topic and to provide, through this publication, a source of information for horticulturalists working on seed problems in ornamental plants.
The production of seed of woody plants presents special challenges.
In addition to dormancy and viability problems, the collection of seed from native stands leads to variable seed quality and difficulty in identifying factors contributing to desirable seed characteristics.
Authors Struve, Jett and Bramlett address these topics in their article on "Production and harvest influences on