Technical Note: Chemical enhancement of germination in curly mesquite seed

Abstract

Curley mesquite (Hilaria belangeri (Steud.) Nash), an important range grass in the southwestern United States, is being evaluated for soil and resource conservation, and range reseeding. Experiments were performed on seed from plants grown with supplemental irrigation to investigate the effects of chemical treatments on germination. Gibberellic acid (GA) at 0.7, 1.4, 2.1, and 2.8 mM significantly enhanced total germination over the control. Low concentrations of GA (0.14, 0.28, 0.42, and 0.56 mM) did not significantly improve germination compared to the control. These results suggest that 0.7 mM GA is the critical concentration to positively affect total germination of curly mesquite seed. Previous reports indicate that curly mesquite seed do not germinate well. However, rapid germination and high percentages in these experiments suggest that our current concept of germinability in curly mesquite seed may be incorrect.