Seed viability measwrement and breaking seed dormancy methods of Agriophllum squarrosum

Eftects of pretreatments, including prechilling, preheating, scarification and concentrated sulfate acid, on breaking seed dormancy of Agriophyllum squarrosum were investigated in this study. The responses of seed viability to a pretreatment and concentrations of tetrazolium solution before staining were also explored. Results indicated that scarification before staining reduce staining time of tetrazolium solution significantly and the best performance was 1.0% of tetrazolium solution for 14-18 h staining. The scarification remarkbly broke seed dormancy of the five candidated seed lots. When seeds were pierced after 7 d of imbibition, all of seeds quickly germinated at 2 d of incubation and the average germination rate reached up to 92% at 7 d of incubation. The germination rate of scarified A.squarrosum seeds increased 47% comparing with the control treatment.