B. P. Bhatt

Effects of mother tree ages, different rooting mediums, light conditions and auxin treatments on rooting behaviour of Dalbergia sissoo branch cuttings

Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. is one of the promising multipurpose tree species of South Asia. Most of the plantations of D. sissoo from seeds are facing severe threats due to the die-back disease, which ultimately causes death of this potential tree-species within a few months. Vegetative propagation could avoid the die-back disease. Thirty mother trees of different age-groups of D. sissoo were selected for evaluating the rooting behaviour of branch cuttings from D. sissoo as influenced by auxins (IAA or IBA at 100, 200, 500 mg·L−1), ages of mother trees (10, 4 and 2 years old) and different environment conditions, i.e., different mediums (soil and sand) or light conditions (in shade and open condition). The results show that application of IAA and IBA induced more numbers of cuttings (collected from 10-year-old mother trees) to root compared to control. Branch cuttings of D. sissoo collected from 10-year-old mother trees and planted in soil bed in open conditions had 100.0% of cuttings to root in IAA (100 mg·L−1) and IBA (200 mg·L−1) treatments. Both rooting medium (Soil and sand) influenced significantly (p<0.05) on rooting response of branch cuttings. Soil medium was found to achieve maximum no. of branch cuttings to root, compared to sand medium.

ALTITUDINAL VARIATION IN SEED CHARACTERISTICS OF CELTIS AUSTRALIS L.

ABSTRACT A preliminary investigation to screen the morphological variation in various seed traits on the basis of their altitudinal distribution was conducted in the Central and Western Himalayas—Uttaranchal and Himachal Pradesh. Significant (P = 0.05) variations have been observed for all the seed traits studied. Seed weight showed the most variation. Significant (p = 0.01) positive correlation was found between seed weight and elevational range of seed source, whereas seed moisture percentage was inversely correlated (p = 0.01) with altitude of seed source. Out of thirteen collections, seven (mostly situated at middle-higher elevations) were deemed—on this basis of seed weight and pending further investigation—to be more suitable for raising planting material for C. australis.

Influence of altitude on seed and seedling characteristics in Quercus leucotrichophora A. Camus. ex. Bahadur

Abstract The present investigation was conducted to record variation of seed and seedling morphological characteristics and germination among eighteen provenances of Quercus leucotrichophora. These traits are important for improving the planting stock material in hand. Significant variations (p<0.05) were recorded for different morphological parameters of seed and seedling among the different provenances. Seed weight was the most variable character among morphological characteristics. Shoot/root ratio and root growth were more variable characters among the seedling traits. Altitude had significant positive relationship with seed weight, seed length and germination per cent. Soil pH was positively correlated with seed weight and germination. These parameters could be used as important criteria for seed source selection. Broad-sense heritability (h2) calculated for different seed and seedling traits showed a considerable portion of genetic variation suggesting the possibility of rapid genetic improvement of these traits. Furthermore, this variability appeared to be geographically structured and would be mainly genetically controlled. Thus the results of present study should be helpful for growing planting material of this potential tree species in afforestation of subtropical to temperate region of Garhwal Himalaya, India.

EFFECTS OF THE ALTITUDE OF SEED ORIGIN AND STORAGE ON THE GERMINATION OF THREE TERMINALIA SPECIES, GARHWAL HIMALAYA, INDIA

ABSTRACT The effects of the altitudinal range of seed source and storage on germination of Terminalia bellirica (Gaertner) Roxb., T. chebula Retz. and T. tomentosa (Roxb.) Wight and Arn were investigated by collecting seeds of each species from 8 sites covering an altitudinal range of 450–1000, 820–1350 and 640–1400m asl, respectively. • Seed weight of T. bellirica was inversely correlated with altitude, whereas that of T. tomentosa was positively correlated with altitude. • Seed weight was inversely correlated with germination percentage for T. bellirica and T. chebula , but positively correlated for T. tomentosa. • Germination percentage was positively correlated with altitude in T. chebula and T. tomentosa • Germination at 25°C constant temperature in all 3 Terminalia species, gave average percentages of 91,96 and 87% respectively for T. bellirica, T. chebula and T. tomentosa. • Germination percentage of all species was inversely correlated with length of storage. Storage at 4°C did not improve retention of viability over that at room temperature.

EFFECT OF SEED SOURCE AND TEMPERATURE ON SEED GERMINATION OF CELTIS. AUSTRALIS L.: A PROMISING AGROFORESTRY TREE-CROP OF CENTRAL HIMALAYA, INDIA

ABSTRACT Seeds of Celtis australis L. were collected from 13 sites (from 10 candidate plus trees at each site) covering an altitudinal range from 550–1980m asl. Germination was tested at 7 temperature regimes. The optimum regime (25°C) was the same for all provenances, but the germination %, mean germination time and germination index of provenances varied significantly. Germination % fell from over 40% for freshly collected seeds, to 28% after one years storage at ambient room temperature—irrespective of provenance. Cold storage failed to improve on this figure. Among provenances that from Garud exhibited the maximum germination −38%, whilst that from Jakholi exhibited the minimum -18%, after 1 year of storage compared to 57% and 33%, respectively, in fresh collected seeds. Both seed source and the temperature affect the germination of C. australis. The seeds should be stored at ambient temperature.