Erythronium germination experiments
Diane Whitehead (Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:29:18 PST)

I have just discovered a very interesting abstract of germination
tests done in Japan on Erythronium japonicum. It is easy to read - I
didn't have to use my botanical dictionary.

http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/89/11/1779/

They tested keeping the seeds at various temperatures before
attempting germination, and then germinating them at various
temperatures and with various amounts of light.

They didn't just toss the seeds out if they didn't germinate.
Instead, they sliced them open to see what was happening. They
found, as one example, that the embryo grew to double its original
size at a certain high temperature, but didn't grow enough to germinate.

In the wild, the seeds are shed in the summer but don't germinate
then because they have immature embryos. The embryos elongate in the
fall when temperatures are moderate, and finish germination by the
arrival of freezing temperatures in November. They are under
snowcover until spring, and that is when they emerge.

I wonder if anyone has done similarly detailed experiments with our
North American species?

Diane Whitehead
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
maritime zone 8, cool Mediterranean climate
mild rainy winters, mild dry summers