PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Derek Tilley
AU  - Terron Pickett
TI  - Germination response of curlycup gumweed seed to oxygenated water treatment
AID  - 10.3368/npj.22.1.4
DP  - 2021 Mar 20
TA  - Native Plants Journal
PG  - 4--12
VI  - 22
IP  - 1
4099  - http://npj.uwpress.org/content/22/1/4.short
4100  - http://npj.uwpress.org/content/22/1/4.full
SO  - NATIVE PLANTS JOURNAL2021 Mar 20; 22
AB  - Seed germination in an oxygenated water bath has been shown to be effective at reducing or eliminating dormancy barriers of some native western North American plant species; however, its full utility is not known. Particularly lacking is information on the effects of oxygenated water treatments on native forbs with physiological dormancy. Curlycup gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal [Asteraceae]) is a commonly occurring, early seral forb that is native to arid and semi-arid habitats in the Intermountain West and is used in wildlife habitat and other rangeland planting practices. We compared germination rates and final germination percentage of curlycup gumweed collections from 5 locations in the Intermountain Region exposed to 4 germination treatments: 1) oxygenated water bath; 2) non-oxygenated water bath; 3) 90-d cold-moist stratification; and 4) a non-treated control. Germination rates and final germination percentages after 35 d in oxygenated water bath treatments were equal to or greater than those from the 90-d stratification for all 5 accessions. Seed priming in oxygenated water treatments appears to be feasible for quickly and uniformly germinating seed in a laboratory environment with the possibility of expanding the technique for field settings.