The Study on Dormancy Mechanism of Pulsatilla chinensis Seeds and Technology of Breaking Dormancy

By studying the water absorption characteristics, seed coat permeability, seed embryo maturity, seed germination inhibitors and seed dormancy methods of Pulsatilla chinensis seeds, the dormancy mechanism of Pulsatilla chinensis seeds was analyzed, the types of seed dormancy were determined, and an effective method to break the dormancy of Pulsatilla chinensis seeds was found.The results showed that Pulsatilla chinensis seeds soaked for about 10 hours were saturated with water.Different concentrations of hydrogen peroxide treated the seeds, at the same time point, the difference in the 100-grain weight of the seeds was not significant.The seed coat of Pulsatilla chinensis had better permeability and would not prevent the seeds from absorbing water.When the seeds were mature, the embryos were mostly in the stage of spherical embryos and heart-shaped embryos, and the development was incomplete.Different concentrations of seed extracts had certain inhibitory effects on the germination of Chinese cabbage seeds, and there were certain germination inhibitors in Pulsatilla chinensis seeds.150 mg/L GA₃ could promote the germination of Pulsatilla chinensis seeds, and the seed germination rate and germination index were higher.The treatment method of warm stratification+lower warm stratification could shorten the seed germination time, and the seed germination was relatively concentrated, and the whole germination period was shortened.The comprehensive analysis showed that the embryo devoloped incompletely and the existence of certain inhibitors in the seeds of Pulsatilla chinensis were the main reasons for their dormancy.Both GA₃ and warm stratification could promote the seed germination of Pulsatilla chinensis. It was preliminarily judged that the seed dormancy type of Pulsatilla chinensis was moderate simple morphological physiological dormancy.