Provenance and pretreatment effect on seed germination of twenty-six provenances of Xanthoceras sorbifolium

Abstract Due to the long dormancy period and hard seed coat, the natural germination percentage of the yellowhorn ( Xanthoceras sorbifolium ) seeds is very low, which seriously hinders the large-scale cultivation of the yellowhorn. In this study, the seeds of 26 provenances with different climatic and geographical conditions were collected and the seed germination was tested, which was conducted to determine the effects of seed pretreatment methods on the germination of yellowhorn at China from twenty-six provenances. Germination percentages (GP), mean germination time (MGT) and germination index (GI) were calculated and the data was subjected to ANOVA. The study showed that the GP, GI and MGT of twenty-six provenances of yellowhorn seeds in different pretreatment methods were highly significantly ( P <0.01). Within the same provenance, the GP, GI and MGT using five pretreatment methods also had significant differences, except those of Jingbian, Fangshan, Kulun and Tubuxin provenances ( P <0.05). In addition, the study indicates that provenances are as important as pretreatments in germination of the species. Correlation between germination ability and geo-climatic data of seed collection sites showed if the annual average temperature of the provenance with short frost-free period is low, the germination percentage of seeds will increase which pretreated with sand storage + PEG. This study provides a reference for the selection of suitable pretreatment methods for 26 provenances of yellowhorn.