THE ONSET AND DISAPPEARANCE OF RELATIVE DORMANCY OF OLIVE EMBRYOS AS AFFECTED BY AGE

Seeds from freshly collected, fully mature, olive fruit, (Olea europaea L.) cv.
Chalkidikis, did not germinate at 20C unless they had previously been chilled at 10C for 3–4 weeks.
Naked embryos germinated moderately at 20C but they reached 100% germination if they had been chilled at 10C for 2 weeks before being transferred at 20C. Thus, dormancy of olive seeds may be attributed partly to the seed coats (endosperm + testa) and partly to the embryo itself which may be considered to be in a state of relative dormancy.

Testing olive embryos, cv.
Chalkidikis, for germination capacity, at 15-day intervals commencing at full bloom, showed that such embryos acquired the ability to germinate when they had reached half their full size (70 days AFB). This ability increased to a maximum, at 15C, when the embryos had completed their morphological development (100 days AFB). Germination occurred also at 20C but at a slower rate and lower percentages than those at 15C.

Testing for germinability of freshly collected to 11-year old embryos, showed that relative dormancy diminished progressively with time, during storage, and disappeared completely in embryos 4 years old, with a corresponding increase in their germination ability.
In embryos older than these, germinability declined gradually as a result of deteriorating vigour due to old age.
Embryos 11 years old had lost their ability to germinate.

II International Symposium on Olive Growing

D. G. Voyiatzis, T. Pritsa

Olive, Olea europaea L., seed dormancy, germination

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1994.356.31