Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » Plant Introduction Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #174025
Title: SELECTION DURING CULTIVATION RESULTS IN REDUCED SEED DORMANCY IN ECHINACEA PURPUREA (L.) MOENCH

Author
item QU, LUPING - GAIA HERBS, INC.
item WANG, XIPING - GAIA HERBS, INC.
item SCALZO, RICHARD - GAIA HERBS, INC.
item Widrlechner, Mark
item DAVIS, JEANINE - N.CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSI
item HANCOCK, JAMES - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/14/2005
Publication Date: 10/1/2005
Citation: Qu, L., Wang, X., Scalzo, R., Widrlechner, M.P., Davis, J.M., Hancock, J.F. 2005. Selection During Cultivation Results in Reduced Seed Dormancy in Echinacea Purpurea (L.) Moench. HortScience. 40(6):1843-1845.

Interpretive Summary: Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a widely-used botanical dietary supplement, and the development of efficient field production systems to meet consumer demand for this plant is of great interest. Seed germination patterns for purple coneflower vary by seed source, making seedling establishment unpredictable. We examined seed germination patterns in sixteen different seed lots of purple coneflower grouped by seed source, testing seven lots from commercially cultivated populations and nine regenerated from wild populations conserved by the USDA-ARS North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station in Ames, Iowa. Germination tests were conducted in a growth chamber in light or darkness at 25 degrees C for 20 days after soaking the seeds in water for 10 minutes. Better germination was observed for commercially cultivated populations in light (90% mean among lots) and in darkness (88% mean among lots) than for wild populations in either light (56% mean among lots) or darkness (37% mean among lots). Except for two lots, seeds from the wild populations germinated at a lower frequency than did commercially cultivated populations either in light or darkness. No germination difference was measured between treatments in light and darkness for commercially cultivated populations, but significant differences were noted among wild populations, where light promoted germination. These results suggest that repeated cycles of sowing seeds during cultivation, without any special treatments to break the seeds' dormancy, have led to an overall reduction in seed dormancy in commercial purple coneflower populations. These results should be helpful to growers and medicinal-plant researchers, alerting them to the dormancy present in wild populations, and may also be useful in more basic scientific studies on the characteristics and genetic control of seed dormancy.

Technical Abstract: Seed germination patterns were studied in E. purpurea grouped by seed source, testing seven samples from commercially cultivated populations and nine regenerated from ex situ conserved wild populations. Germination tests were conducted in a growth chamber in light or darkness at 25 degrees C for 20 days after soaking the seeds in water for 10 minutes. Better germination was observed for commercially cultivated populations in light (90% mean among seed lots, ranging from 82 to 95%) and in darkness (88% mean among seed lots, ranging from 82 to 97%) than for wild populations in light (56% mean among seed lots, ranging from 9 to 92%) or in darkness (37% mean among seed lots, ranging from 4 to 78%). Except for two lots, seeds from the wild populations germinated at a lower frequency than did commercially cultivated populations either in light or darkness. No germination difference was measured between treatments in light and darkness in the commercially cultivated populations, but significant differences were noted among wild populations. These results suggest that repeated cycles of sowing seeds during cultivation, without treatments for dormancy release, has resulted in reduced seed dormancy in E. purpurea.