'Magnar’ Basin Wildrye—Germination in Relation to Temperature

Abstract

Basin wildrye (Elymus cinereus) is potentially a very valuable forage species adapted to saline/alkaline range sites in the Great Basin. Poor seed fill and low germination have limited the usefulness of this species for range revegetation. The recently released cultivar 'Magnar' tends to overcome these obstacles and offers a higher potential for use of basin wildrye on rangelands. In this study we compared the germination of 'Magnar' and its sister selection accession P-15590 at 55 constant and alternating temperatures. The seeds of both selections are highly germinable with optimum regimes for temperatures centered around 20 degrees C. 'Magnar' seeds had 82% germination at moderate seedbed temperatures and 32, 28 and 37% germination at colder, warmer, or widely fluctuating seedbed temperatures, respectively. Germination of 'Magnar' seeds was most rapid at what became optimum temperature regimes for germination. Germination was increasingly delayed at extremely warm, cold, or widely fluctuating temperatures.