Seed germination of selected plants under the influence of heavy metals

In the paper has been presented the influence of selected heavy metals salts solutions: CuSO4, Pb(NO3)2, ZnCl2 and Cd(NO3)2 on the germination of seeds of the higher plants. The solutions with the various concentrations of abovementioned salts have been tested on seeds of the following plants: rye (Secale cereale L.), common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), rape (Brassica napus oleifera L.) and white mustard (Sinapis alba L.). The pot experiment was carried out in laboratory conditions. Each variant of the experiment has been made in three replications. After the 7 days of germination, number of the germinated seeds was counted. There was no significant variation of the impact of the solutions tested on seeds used in the experiment. The influence of CuSO4 was the highest on seed germination in all the plants except rye. Higher concentrations of the salts caused reduced germination of most from the tested plants.