Special Issue – Annals of Event
Communications in Plant Sciences (2237-4027)
volume 2, issues 3-4, p.105-107, Jul-Dec, 2012
I Workshop of Plant Biology – IB/UNESP
Biometry and dormancy breaking of Ormosia arborea seeds
Aparecida Leonir da Silva*
Glaucia Almeida de Morais
Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Ivinhema,
MS, Brasil.
Workshop Information
I Workshop of Plant Biology (I Workshop de Biologia Vegetal) was
held in the Bioscience Institute – UNESP, campus of Rio Claro,
Brazil, during August 20 and 21, 2012. Workshop was a scientific
event organized by Post-graduate students from that Institute aiming
to integrate Post-graduate and Graduate students from different
areas related to Plant Biology (Anatomy, Ecology, Evolution,
Morphology, Physiology, and transitional areas) from different
Universities. Workshop Organization offered a large number of
speaking activities, scientific discussions, and extra short-courses to
improve the knowledge and formation of students in Plant Biology.
Scientific Committee
Alessandra Tomaselli Fidelis, Anna Carolina Bressan, Daniela de
Oliveira Dinato, Diogo Amorim, Elaine Lopes, Letícia Peres Poli
Luis Felipe Daibes, Marcelo Claro de Souza, Milene Amâncio Alves
Eigenheer, Naiara Lopes de Sousa, Nara Oliveira Vogado, Natalia
Costa, Paulo Roberto de Moura Souza Filho, Rafael Marques
Guimarães Konopczyk, Rita de Cássia Andreotta, Tiago Haruo
Ishibashi, Vitor de Andrade Kamimura, and Yuri Brenn.
*Corresponding author: cida_uems@hotmail.com
Received on August 14, 2012. Accepted on August 21, 2012. Online published on December 18, 2012.
INTRODUCTION
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Ormosia arborea (Vell.) Harms (Fabaceae) is a native
tree species presents in fragments of the Floresta
Estacional Semidecidual, in the State of Mato Grosso
do Sul, Brazil, being considered an endangered
species due to the environmental devastation (Lorenzi
2000).
As well as in other species with tegument
dormancy, seeds of O. arborea need special
treatments before sowing to allow or increase
germination. The seeds must be physically or
chemically scarified to weaken the tegument and allow
water absorption (Lorenzi 2000), because the
restriction presented by dormant seeds must be
overcome in order to allow the germination process
(Fowler and Martins 2001).
For better understanding the seed physiology of
O. arborea from Vale do Ivinhema-MS, Brazil, and to
define the better way to overcome seed dormancy, this
study aimed to perform biometric analyses and
evaluate the germination potential of O. arborea
seeds that were submitted to dormancy breaking
treatments.
Five hundred and three seeds of O. arborea were used
in this study. The seeds were collected on soil surface,
at the left margin of Rio Ivinhema, at Nova Andradina
(22˚ 02' 56.7'' S 53˚ 41' 25.6" W), State of Mato
Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
The biometrical data (length, thickness, width and
mass) were obtained from 203 seeds, using a digital
caliper (0.01 mm) and an analytic scale (0.0001 g).
The length was obtained measuring the largest seed
axis; the width and the thickness were obtained from
the widest part of the seed.
The seeds were submitted to the following
treatments to test the dormancy breaking: a)
mechanical scarification – seeds were sanded down
with number 100 sandpaper on the opposite side to the
hilum up to embryo visualization, and immersed in
distillated water for five days, at room temperature,
replacing the water every 24 hours; b) chemical
scarification – the seeds were immersed in
concentrated sulfuric acid (H2SO4) for 20 minutes,
washed in running tap water for 5 minutes; c) control –
106 Silva and Morais. 2012. Biometry and dormancy breaking of Ormosia…
the seeds were immersed in distilled water for five
days, at room temperature, replacing the water every
24 hours.
The seeds were planted on a nursery containing
washed sand as the substrate, in a greenhouse under
50% artificial shading, and were irrigated by sprinkler
three times a day, for 5 minutes each. The seedling
emergence was evaluated daily for 40 days, and the
seedling was considered emerged when it appears
over the substrate surface. The maximum and
minimum temperature was obtained using a
thermometer located near the nursery.
The following emergence parameters were
analyzed: percentage, percentage, average time,
average rate, relative frequency, and synchronization
index.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The seeds of O. arborea presented the averages of
11.6 mm in length, 7.5 mm in thickness and 9.5 mm in
width (Table 1). These results are similar to that found
by Gurski et al. (2012), i.e. 11.5 mm, 7.5 mm and 9.2
mm, respectively, to the same species, but with
material from a Restinga in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro
state. On the other hand, the average mass of the
seeds in the present study (0.59 g) was lower than that
found by Gurski et al. (2012). In our study, the mass
and the length were the most heterogeneous and the
most homogeneous measurements, respectively,
showing the highest and lowest variation coefficient,
respectively (Table 1).
(1997), the best methods for breaking dormancy of O.
arborea seeds are mechanical scarification and
chemical scarification using sulfuric acid. Fowler and
Martins (2001) recommended only the use of
mechanical scarification, whereas, for Davide et al.
(1995), the scarification of O. arborea seeds must be
performed using sandpaper and posterior immersion in
water for 48 hours. For Teixeira et al. (2009), the best
method is the scarification using sulfuric acid.
In the present study, the mechanical scarification
was not efficient in dormancy breaking, resulting in
only 2% of seedling emergence, whereas the chemical
scarification rise the emergence percentage to 65.5%.
The treatments used in the present study do not
reduce the average time of emergence, and,
consequently, they do not increase the average rate of
the process. The emergence was observed only 20
days after the planting (Figure 1; Table 2). The
synchronization could not be compared due to the low
percentage of emergence in the control and in the
mechanical scarification treatment, but the frequency
distribution in the chemical scarification treatment
reveals the existence of two main peaks between the
21th and 32th days. The seedlings emergence shows
no relationship to the temperatures in the experiment
period (Figure 2).
Table 1. Biometric data of Ormosia arborea seeds.
Average
Maximum
Minimum
Variation coefficient
Standard deviation
Length
11.64 mm
13.47 mm
9.35 mm
6.43%
0.75
Thickness
7.47 mm
9.59 mm
3.57 mm
9.46%
0.71
Width
9.52 mm
12.43 mm
7.20 mm
7.54%
0.72
Mass
0.59 g
0.88 g
0.24 g
16.39%
0.10
Only 1% of the O. arborea seeds used in the
control emerged (Table 2), in agreement with the
studies of Marques et al. (2004) who found 1%, 29%
by Lopes et al. (2004), and 1% by Teixeira et al.
(2009).
Table 2. Percentage, average time, average rate, and
synchronization index of seedlings emergence of Ormosia arborea in
nursery.
Sandpaper/water
immersion
Control
2.0
Average
time
(days)
28.5
1.0
26.0
0.038
0
Sulfuric acid
65.5
28.5
0.034
-3.5
Treatment
Emergence
(%)
Average
rate
(days-1)
0.035
Synchronization
index
-2.0
According to Almeida (2008), Marques et al.
(2004), Lopes et al. (2004) and Vieira and Fernandes
Communications in Plant Sciences (2237-4027)
Figure 1. Relative frequency polygons of the Ormosia arborea
emergence in nursery: A – control; B – mechanical scarification; C –
chemical scarification.
volume 2, issues 3-4, p.105-107, Jul-Dec, 2012
Silva and Morais. 2012. Biometry and dormancy breaking of Ormosia…
References
Figure 2. Maximum and minimum temperatures observed during the
experimental period, from 04/01/2011 to 05/11/2011.
According to Fowler and Martins (2001), O.
arborea presents germination between 30% and 70%
in greenhouse conditions, up to one month after
planting, using pre-germination treatments, as
observed in the chemical scarification treatment of the
present study.
CONCLUSIONS
The biometric measurements of the studied sample
correspond to those on literature. The chemical
scarification for 20 minutes was the more adequate
procedure for dormancy breaking in the seeds of O.
arborea.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Douglas de Araujo and M. Takaki for
suggestions and English corrections.
Review process and quality of English writing is responsibility of
Workshop Scientific Committee.
Communications in Plant Sciences (2237-4027)
volume 2, issues 3-4, p.105-107, Jul-Dec, 2012
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