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Germination and Seedling Development of Common Milkweed and Other Species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

L. L. Evetts  and
O. C. Burnside
L. L. Evetts
Affiliation:
Dep. of Agron., Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln 68503
O. C. Burnside
Affiliation:
Dep. of Agron., Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln 68503
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Abstract

Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) seed did not survive storage in water for 1, 2, and 12 months at 40, 30, and 5 C, respectively; but under dry storage seed viability was destroyed only at 40 C for 5 months. Stratifying common milkweed seed in water at 5 C was more effective in breaking dormancy than at 22 C. Mechanical scarification also caused a significant increase in germination. Exogenous 6-furfurylamino purine (kinetin) and gibberellic acid-3 (GA) increased germination while indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) had no effect. The optimum germination temperature scheme for common milkweed was an alternating 20 to 30 C, the maximum between 35 and 40 C, and the minimum between 15 and 20 C. Common milkweed seedlings were more susceptible to moisture stress than kochia [Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad.] but less susceptible than hemp dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum L.) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). In a greenhouse study common milkweed was less drought tolerant than eight other weed species. Common milkweed seedlings tolerated wider pH ranges than honeyvine milkweed [Ampelamus albidus (Nutt.) Britt.], kochia, and sunflower. Common milkweed seedlings were less tolerant to salt solutions than four other species. Common milkweed emerged from 6-cm depths in Sharpsburg silty clay loam (sicl) at 20 or 30 C but only from the 3-cm depth at an alternating 20 to 30 C. Results from root box studies showed that common and honeyvine milkweed produced less shoot and root weight than kochia and sunflower and had a lower growth rate index of roots than sunflower. Common milkweed seedlings resprouted 21 days after planting when clipped at ground level. As days from planting to clipping increased, sprouting activity increased.

Type
Research Article
Information
Weed Science , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , July 1972 , pp. 371 - 378
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

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References

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