PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Schad, Aaron N AU - Dick, Gary O AU - Dodd, Lynde L TI - Seed germination methods of the Texas Northern Blackland Prairie ecotype of <em>Sapindus saponaria</em> L. var. <em>drummondii</em> (Hook. and Arn.) L.D. Benson (Sapindaceae) AID - 10.3368/npj.18.3.271 DP - 2017 Sep 21 TA - Native Plants Journal PG - 271--276 VI - 18 IP - 3 4099 - http://npj.uwpress.org/content/18/3/271.short 4100 - http://npj.uwpress.org/content/18/3/271.full SO - NATIVE PLANTS JOURNAL2017 Sep 21; 18 AB - Seeds from the Texas Northern Blackland Prairie ecotype of western soapberry (Sapindus saponaria L. var. drummondii (Hook. &amp; Arn.) L.D. Benson [Sapindaceae]) were collected, stored, pretreated (with sulfuric acid scarification and stratification), and germinated for the purposes of silviculture projects. Seeds were scarified for 0, 20, 40, and 60 min using 96% sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and half were stratified at 2 to 5.5 °C (35.5–42 °F) for 45 d. Results from the pretreatment methods were significantly different (stratification, P &lt; 0.001; scarification, P = 0.039), with the greatest difference being between mean germination percentage for non-stratified and stratified seeds at 14.67% and 60.33%, respectively. For both stratification methods, the 20-min acid scarification method produced the highest germination percentages; however, germination occurred without acid scarification in both stratified and non-stratified seeds. This outcome could indicate the ecotype lacked physical dormancy or that a less volatile seed scarification pretreatment method, such as peat moss storage, could be a viable germination method.