The seed external morphology and seed coat pattern of 11 genera and 22 species of Melastomataceae in Taiwan were studied by dissecting microscopey and scanning electron microscopey. According to the seed size, the result showed that the length and width of seed is different inter-generically. The biggest size is the seed of Memecylon while contrast to those of the other genera. The seed shapes could be divided into 8 types. They are liner-lanceolate, cuneate, fusiform, reniform, cochleate, triangular, obovoid and parallelogram respectively. Except that of the Sarcopyramis, the seed shape is rather stable intra-generically. The seed coat could be classified into 6 patterns. They are verrucate, rugose, smooth, tuberculate, granulate, and colliculate respectively. The seed colors are egg-yellow, brown, nut-brown and reddish brown. The difference of seed morphology is obvious inter-generically, and the difference of seed coat patterns is extinctive intra-generically.

Thesis (M. Sc.(Plant Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-07-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:04:45Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 luz_pb_dr_jabo.pdf: 299584 bytes, checksum: 523f53f6e05f36d85c16c6d8b5107ff9 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A palmeira real australiana (Archontophoenix cunninghamii H. Wendl. & Drude) é uma das palmeiras exóticas de maior utilização no paisagismo e nos últimos tempos tem despertado grande interesse também no cultivo para a produção de palmito, aumentando a procura por mudas. Embora seja uma palmeira de grande interesse ornamental e comercial, ainda pairam muitas dúvidas relacionadas à produção de mudas. Não há informações científicas sobre os padrões de teste de germinação, como temperatura, substrato, morfologia do diásporo e das plântulas e o comportamento das sementes submetidas ao armazenamento. Desta forma o objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a germinação de sementes, bem como, a morfologia do diásporo (semente com o endocarpo aderido) e da plântula de A. cunninghamii. Para estudo do efeito da temperatura, foram avaliadas seis regimes de temperaturas (20ºC, 25ºC, 30ºC, 35ºC, 20-30ºC e 25-35ºC), utilizando como substrato vermiculita; o delineamento adotado foi inteiramente casualizado, com 4 repetições de 25 sementes. Para o estudo dos substratos, foram avaliados três substratos (areia, vermiculita e esfagno), na temperatura alternada de 25-35ºC; o delineamento adotado foi o inteiramente casualizado, com 7 repetições de 25 sementes. Para o estudo do efeito da embebição das sementes aproximadamente 1000 sementes foram colocadas para embeber em água destilada, a cada 1 dia uma amostra de 100 sementes era colocada para germinar, onde o período máximo de embebição foi de 7 dias. O experimento contou com 8 tratamentos: semeadura logo após a colheita e de 1 a 7 dias após onde foi utilizado 4 repetições de 25 sementes cada. Para o estudo do armazenamento o delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado; com 12 tratamentos (semeadura logo após a colheita e a cada 30 dias durante 11 meses) e 4 repetições de 25 sementes... / The Australian real palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamii H. Wendl. & Drude) has a major use in landscaping. Among producers because of its possibility as an alternative for the production of palm heart, which leads to an increase in the demand for its seedlings. This palm tree is of great ornamental and commercial interest, there are still many unknown aspects related to seedling production. There is no scientific information about the germination tests such as temperature, germination medium, seedling morphology or the seed behavior during storage. For the study of temperature effect, six temperatures regimes (20ºC, 25ºC, 30ºC, 35ºC, 20-30ºC and 25- 35ºC) were evaluated, using vermiculite as the germination medium. A completely randomized design with four replicates of 25 seeds each was adopted. Three germination media were analyzed (sand, vermiculite and sphagnum) at an alternate temperature of 25-35ºC. For the study of the germination medium, the design adopted was the completely randomized design with seven replicates of 25 seeds each. For the study of the effect of soaking of the seeds, a seedlot containing approximately 1000 seeds was kept in distilled water. Each day, a sample containing 100 seeds was set to germinate. The maximum period of soaking was of seven days, which means that the experiment had eight treatments: sowing right after the harvesting and from day 1 to day 7 after the harvesting, where four replicates of 25 seeds were used for each day. For the storage study, the experimental design used was the completely randomized design (12 periods of storage) with four repetitions of 25 seeds. The seeds were placed in impermeable packages (bags of transparent polyethylene) and were stored in a refrigerated chamber. The storage lasted for 11 months and at every 30 days, samples containing 140 seeds were taken out. From these 140 seeds, 100 were taken... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

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Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is a warm season herb usually propagated from seeds. Establishment of basil is difficult as seed germination may be limited, particularly during field seeding at cold soil temperatures. The germination of six cultivars (\'Italian Large Leaf\', \'Italian Large Leaf\' 35X, \'Nufar\', \'Genovese\', \'Genovese Compact Improved\' and \'Aroma 2\') of sweet basil seeds were tested on a one dimensional thermo-gradient table over temperatures ranging from 0 to 50"C. At temperatures below 20"C, germination among cultivars was more variable and the mean time to germination (MTG) increased to greater than 25 days for some cultivars. Germination declined sharply and had a sudden termination at high temperatures above 40"C for all six cultivars.  There were statistical differences among the cultivar base temperatures, which ranged between 10.1 and 13.3"C. The optimal and ceiling temperatures for germination were similar and did not differ statistically among the cultivars compared in this study. The average optimal temperature for all cultivars was 35 ± 0"C, while the average ceiling temperature was 43 ± 1.3"C. Stored seeds (> 5 years) had lower seed vigor and lower germination percentage, also lower ceiling temperature compared with the fresh seeds of the same cultivar (\'Italian Large Leaf\'), but the base temperatures were the same for both new and old seeds. Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) seeds produce a thick layer of mucilage around the pericarp within minutes after hydration. Mucilage is most prevalent among plant species adapted to surviving in arid sandy soils, though its significance in determining ecological fitness is unclear. The mucilage produced by seeds is reported to be composed of cell-wall polysaccharides that are deposited in testa pericarp cells during development. In this study, sweet basil seeds were examined using light and environmental scanning electron microscopy. The mucilage of basil seeds is held together by columnar structures that unfolded from the pericarp and helped hold and stabilize the mucilage to the outer surface. The mucilage was removed using diluted hydrochloric acid to compare performance of seeds with and without mucilage. Mucilage removal did not inhibit seed germination under ideal laboratory conditions but decreased the water content of seeds significantly. The water content of intact seeds was almost 4 times greater than seeds without mucilage. Mucilage enabled seeds cling to an incline board set to a steeper angle than seeds without mucilage. The fully hydrated seeds approached zero water potential, so the mucilage did not prevent seeds from fully hydrating. Soil (media) germination testing showed the seeds with mucilage had higher germination percentage than the seed without mucilage on several different types of media. Seeds with mucilage also had higher survival percentages after 10 days on different types of media. Basil seeds mucilage acts as a reservoir to hold loosely bound water at high water potential so it is available for seed germination and early seedling development. / Master of Science

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