Seed characteristics and the influence of scarification treatments on the germination of Pterocarpus angolensis in Botswana

Abstract

Pterocarpus angolensis, a vital timber tree species of the Miombo and other woodlands, is native to eastern and southern Africa. Gemination studies were carried out at the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources to ascertain the seeds’ features and find the most effective scarification treatments that yield the fastest, highest, and most consistent germination of P. angolensis. Ten seed pretreatments were included in the completely randomized design of the experiments. These treatments included nicking, immersion in boiling water for one, three, and five minutes, concentrated sulphuric acid for fifteen, thirty, forty-five, and sixty minutes, and hot water left to cool overnight. Treated seeds were allowed to germinate at room temperature (25 °C) for 30 days. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the raw data. The findings demonstrated that nicking and sulfuric acid treatments significantly increased seed germination (p=0.0001) compared to untreated seeds. The germination rate of the seeds emersed in boiling water for one, three, and five minutes was noticeably lower than that of untreated seeds. Because of their tough seed coat, P. angolensis seeds must be pretreated before sown. This study found that nicking and sulphuric acid treatment were the best techniques for seed germination of P. Angolensis.