Effects of sodium salt stress on seed germination of Prunella vulgaris

An experiment has been conducted to investigate the germination characteristics of Prunellavulgaris seeds under different sodium salt stress treatments.P.vulgaris seeds were treated with five different types of sodium salt solution:NaCl,Na2CO3,Na2SO4,a mixture of NaCl and Na2CO3,and a mixture of NaCl,Na2CO3 and Na2SO4.The study investigated the effects of these treatments on germination rate,germination power,germination index,vigor index,the fresh weight of seeds,root length and seedling height.The results showed that with increasing salt concentrations the germination rate,germination index,vigor index,fresh weight,root length and seedling height of P.vulgaris seeds significantly decreased compared with the control.The indexes of P.vulgaris seed germination were promoted with lower concentrations and inhibited with higher concentrations of sodium salt.The indexes of the treatment with a low concentration rate were significantly higher than those of the control group.The order of seed germination restraint by the different sodium salt concentrations is:Na2SO4NaClmixture of NaCl+Na2CO3mixture of NaCl+Na2CO3+Na2SO4Na2CO3.