Germination characteristics of tedera (bituminaria bituminosa var bituminosa)

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the germination response of tedera seeds(Bituminaria bituminosa var. bituminosa C. H Stirt) to water submersion t. Tederais a perennial legume considered as a potential new pasture for Mediterranean,African and arid areas and traditionally used as forage for ruminants. It ischaracterized by deep-rootedness, drought tolerance, high protein content andnutritive value, offering elevate interest in animal nutrition. The experiment wasundertaken from October 2015 with freshly harvested seeds collected by hand onnatural populations from Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. Seed weight of tedera wascompared using four replicates of 50 seeds. The seeds were divided into twogroups (two replicates each group) and submerged on ambient temperature waterduring 16 or 24 hours each group. The mean seed weight was 23mg and itgerminates in temperatures ranging from 12°C to 20°C. Tedera have nogermination requirement for light. Tedera showed radicle protrusionfrom 4-8 cmwith no significant difference between groups. However, the highest percentage ofseed germination was achieved in the 24 hours group (65%) compared to the 16hours group (27%), which showed a significant decrease (p<0, 05) in thepercentage of seed germination. This study demonstrated that submersion duringaffected the Bituminaria bituminosa var. bituminosa seed germination andsuggesting that tedera is a promising species for direct seeding. The results suggestthat additional experiments are required for direct seeding.