H. Cemal Gültekin

EFFECTS OF STRATIFICATION AND MECHANICAL PRETREATMENTS ON GERMINATION OF SYRIAN JUNIPER (Arceuthos drupacea Ant. et Kotschy) SEEDS

Syrian juniper is an important local species which has only a limited distribution on earth. However, there is a lack of information on how to germinate and grow this species. In this study, effects of various stratification and mechanical pretreatments on germination of Syrian juniper seeds were investigated. Stratification treatments included cold-moist and warm-moist stratification for up to 30 months. Breaking (seeds fully exposed) and cracking (seeds remained inside the seed coat) were tried as mechanical treatments. Results showed that, while cold-moist stratification failed to result in any germination, germination percentage following warm-moist stratification first increased, then decreased as the period of stratification got longer. Both breaking and cracking produced successful results among the mechanical treatments. Especially, cracking resulted in a 66 % germination percentage, which was the highest rate achieved in the study. Therefore, Arceuthos seeds either have to be warm-moist stratified for a long time up to 24 months, or seed coats have to be cracked partially for a successful germination to take place.