THE EFFECTS OF PRETREATMENT FACTORS ON SEED GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH OF ANISE (PIMPINELLA ANISUM L.)

Seed dormancy is one of the major problems in agricultural studies, especially for medical plants. Anise ( Pimpinella anisum L.) is an important medical plant with dormant seed and it is established and distributed only in its natural habitats. In order to evaluate the effects of some pretreatment factors on primary growth and germination characteristics of Anise, an experiment was conducted as Factorial layout within completely randomized design with four replications. Pre-chilling treatments were 0, 15, 30 and 45 days treatments and hormone treatments were GA 3 (Gibberellic Acid), BA (Benzyladenine), KI (Kinetin), GA 3 +BA, GA 3 +KI, BA+KI, GA 3 +BA+KI, KNO 3 , H 2 SO 4 and distilled water as a control treatment. Prechilling treatment effects on coleoptile and radicle length, seedling length, germination percentage, mean time for germination, germination rate and seed vigor index were meaningful. Different hormone treatments had significant influence on coleoptile and radicle length, seedling length, germination percentage, mean time germination, germination rate and seed vigor index. The highest germination percentage and germination rate was related to usage of BA+KI. The higher values for radicle length and uniformity of seed germination were achieved in application of BA and KI, respectively. Moreover, application of GA 3 +BA+KI had obtained the highest seed vigor index. It seems that application of endogenous GA 3 +KI and BA+KI concentration, which is provided mostly by chilling treatment, is the most effective factor for breaking the seed dormancy. On the basis of the results, usage of 45 days moist prechilling accompanied with application of GA 3 +KI and BA+KI in Esfahan cultivar was appropriate.