The controlling influence of carbon dioxide in the maturation, dormancy, and germination of seeds.—Part I

Abstract

The cause or causes conditioning arrested development in moist seeds and the nature of the impetus which results in germination are still in most respects obscure. The problem of the non-germination of maturing seeds while still upon the parent plant and the large range of cases of delayed or non-germination of shed seeds which to all appearances are in good conditions for germination form the basis of this research. It is to be emphasised that the problem of seed dormancy is not limited to the case of the dry seed. The more important, but less obvious, conditions of dormancy are those found in moist maturing seeds, and in cases of delayed germination in the presence of sufficient conditions of moisture and temperature. It is these which have the most interesting analogies in other fields, and an analysis of which may be more fruitful from the point of view of physiology in general.