Propagation of threatened climber species Entada rheedii Spreng. – a medicinal plant with extremely thick and hard seed coat

Abstract

The study explored propagation techniques of Entada rheedii Spreng., a threatened medicinal climber species with extremely hard seed coat. Propagation trials included both pre-sowing treatments of seeds for germination and clonal propagation by stem cutting. Pre-sowing treatments included (a) soaking of both cut (notched) and uncut (intact) seeds in water for 0 h, 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h and (b) immersion of intact seeds in 5% acetone solution for 5 min, 10 min, and 20 min before sowing in germination media in polybags. On the other hand, stem cutting involved treating the summer or autumn cuttings with 0%, 0.4%, and 0.8% IBA solution before rooting in non-mist propagator. Notched seeds soaked in water for 48 h showed the fastest seed germination with the highest germination percentages (73.3) and better seedling growth in terms of plant height, collar diameter, leaf number and total dry mass followed by notched seeds soaked in water for 72 h. The slowest germination and the lowest germination percentage (3.3), as well as the poorest growth performance was for intact seeds without any treatment. The highest rooting percent­age with maximum number of roots (36.6) was obtained from the summer cuttings treated with 0.4% IBA solution followed by autumn cuttings with 0.8% IBA and the lowest (43.3% and 8.3 roots) was for summer cuttings in control. The factors also dictated the survival and growth performance of rooted cuttings in the nursery conditions. The outcomes of these trials i.e., notched seeds soaking in water for 48 h will help to enhance the propagation of this valuable medicinal plant species.