Effect of Different Treatments on Breaking Dormancy of Teucrium chamaedrys L. Seed

Abstract

In order to find the most effective method to overcome seed dormancy in <em>Teucrium chamaedrys</em> L. medicinal plant species the effect of some chemical and physical breaking methods including: cold stratification (5 °C), scarification with sandpaper, stratification with needle, concentrated sulfuric acid, gibberellic acid and combination of these methods were investigated. Treated seeds along with control were sown in the germinator at 25±2 °C for 45 days according to a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed that all seed treatments increased seed dormancy, however, the highest germination percentage and lowest mean germination time obtained when seeds were treated with sulfuric acid followed by chilling and gibberellic acid, respectively. Sulfuric acid increased the permeability of the seed coat and the effect of gibberellic acid was enhanced by cold treatment. Results showed that <em>T. chamaedrys</em> seeds have both physical and physiological dormancy.