Warm stratification improves embryos development and seed germination of Cycas revoluta

Abstract

The broad objective of this research is to study the effect of warm stratification on Cycas revoluta zygotic embryos length, seed germination and plant development. Four warm treatments were applied to seeds. Our results showed that seeds storage at room temperature or 30°C improved significantly zygotic embryos length. Moreover, time of germination was significantly reduced with the warm stratification. The highest percentage of germination was obtained with seeds warm treated at 30°C for 2 months while only 25% of seeds were able to germinate in the control. Regarding seedlings development, our results demonstrated that warm stratification did not affect plant development. No significant differences have been recorded in all the evaluated parameters except for root length. Taken together, these results underlined the beneficial effect of warm stratification on Cycas revoluta seed germination and plant development and proposed a new method to improve seed germination of Cycas revoluta.