Effect of seed soaking with hot water and H2SO4 on seed germination of Chamaecrista rotundifolia

Abstract: Seed hardness is a big problem for Chamaecrista rotundifolia cultivation. A experiment was conducted to determine the impact of seed soaking treatments (hot water and H2SO4) on germination of two varieties of C. rotundifolia (cv. Minyin and cv. Minyin NO.2) for finding a technique to break seed dormancy of C. rotundifolia seed. This study showed that seeds hardness rate of two varieties reached 56.3% and 76.0%, respectively; however, the hardness rate of Minyin treated by 100 ℃ water for 3 min decreased to 11.7%, and its germination rate and germination index increased to 42.7% and 32.1 respectively. The hot water treatments did not work on the seed hardness rate of Minyin NO.2. Seeds of Minyin and Minyin NO.2 treated by 98% H2SO4 for 10 min performed better, and indicating that their germination indexes were 58.9 and 37.0 and their germination rates were 64.7% and 80.0%, respectively.