A study was conducted on 20 species of prairie forbs collected from Illinois tallgrass prairie to determine their levels of germination without treatment of the seed and to determine their expected higher levels of germination with various seed treatments. The present assay of forb seed germination was made to aid those engaged in prairie restoration. Seed fill was visually and physically determined. Seed viability was determined by use of triphenyl tetrazolium chloride, which turns living embryos red. Germination was done on moist filter paper inside petri plates in darkness at constant temperature. From tests on 20 species only three germinated without treatment; 12 germinated under 2 months of moist-cold treatment; and four germinated with scarification. When treated with rootone, five species germinated. Three species germinated with single application of .005% potassium gibberellate spray. These results suggest most of the 20 species could be planted with success with the proper preparation or treatment of the seed. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.