Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:04:17.967Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Germination of White Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) Seeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

James A. Young
Affiliation:
Agric. Res. Serv., U.S. Dep. Agric., 920 Valley Rd., Reno, NV 89512
Raymond A. Evans
Affiliation:
Agric. Res. Serv., U.S. Dep. Agric., 920 Valley Rd., Reno, NV 89512

Abstract

White horehound (Marrubium vulgare L. # MAQVU) is one of the few perennial, herbaceous alien weeds to successfully colonize semiarid to arid rangelands in the Great Basin. Seeds of white horehound, collected from diverse habitats within the Lahontan Basin of northwestern Nevada, were incubated at constant or alternating temperatures ranging from 0 to 40 C. Germination was low and largely limited to alternating temperatures (10 to 25 C alternating with 35 to 40 C). At least a 15-C range in diurnal fluctuation was required for optimum germination (defined as not lower than the maximum observed minus one-half of the confidence interval with 1% probability). Cool-moist stratification at 2 C for 4 to 8 weeks enhanced germination at optimum temperature regimes by as much as 70% and increased overall average germination by 35 to 40%. Cool-moist stratification caused a shift in temperature optima for germination from widely fluctuating temperatures to constant 15 or 20 C. The magnitude of this shift varied among sources of seeds.

Type
Weed Biology and Ecology
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 by the Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature Cited

1. Bailey, L. H. 1949. Manual of cultivated plants. The MacMillan Co., New York. 1116 pp.Google Scholar
2. Cronin, E. H. 1965. Ecological and physiological factors influencing chemical control of Halogeton glomeratus . U.S. Dep. Agric. Tech. Bull. No. 1325, Washington, DC. 65 pp.Google Scholar
3. Evans, R. A., Easi, D. A., Book, D. N., and Young, J. A. 1982. Quadratic response surface analysis of seed germination trials. Weed Sci. 30:411416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Evans, R. A., Holbo, H. R., Young, J. A., and Eckert, R. E. Jr. 1970. Functional environment of downy brome communities in relation to weed control and revegetation. Weed Sci. 18:154162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Piemeisel, R. L. 1928. Changes in weed plant cover on cleared sagebrush land and their probable cause. U.S. Dep. Agric. Cir. 229. Gov. Printing Office, Washington, DC. 48 pp.Google Scholar
6. Taylorson, R. B. and Brown, M. M. 1977. Accelerated afterripening for overcoming seed dormancy in grass weeds. Weed Sci. 25:473476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7. Young, J. A. and Evans, R. A. 1982. Temperature profiles for germination of cool season range grasses. ARR-W-27. Agric. Res. Ser., U.S. Dep. Agric., Oakland, CA. 92 pp.Google Scholar
8. Young, J. A., Evans, R. A., Kay, B. L., Owens, R. E., and Jurak, F. L. 1978. Collecting, processing, and germinating seeds of western wildland plants. ARM-W-3. Agric. Reviews and Manuals. Sci. and Educ. Admin., U.S. Dep. Agric., Berkeley, CA. 38 pp.Google Scholar