Germination capability of immature seeds of Lotus ornithopodioides L. and Scorpiurus subvillosus L.

Lotus ornithopodioides and Scorpiurus subvillosus are two hard seed pasture legumes thar are very palatable to livestock. In order to overcome the obstacle of hard seed, immature seeds of these species were collected from mother plants and stored at 5°C until the beginning of the germination trial. Seed germination was evaluated at 7 different temperatures of germination with a step of 5°C for four different storage periods. At the same time, a batch of seeds stored at 5°C for 300 days was subjected to 35°C for 40 days and then tested, both intact and scarified, at the same temperature as above. Immature seeds of both species showed germination values up to 100%. Optimal temperatures for both species ranged between 10 and 25°C. With the increase of storage period, germination seems quite stable in Lotus and decreases in Scorpiurus. Intact seed placed at 35°C completely lost germination capability due to the establishment of hardseededness.