Seed development in the rare cold desert sand dune shrub Eremosparton songoricum and a comparison with other papilionoid legumes |
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Authors: | Hui‐Liang Liu Buhailiqiemu Abudureheman Jerry M. Baskin Carol C. Baskin Dao‐Yuan Zhang |
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Affiliation: | 1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urümqi, China;2. Turpan Eremophytes Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Turpan, China;3. University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;4. Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA;5. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA |
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Abstract: | No study has yet been carried out on seed development in a cold desert sand dune papilionoid legume. Thus, our primary aims were to (i) monitor seed development in the cold desert sand dune species Eremosparton songoricum from the time of pollination to seed maturity, and (ii) compare seed development in this species with that in other species of papilionoid legumes. Fruit and seed size, mass and seed moisture content, and seed imbibition, germination, desiccation tolerance and water retention during development (pollination to seed maturity) were monitored in the papilionaceous shrub E. songoricum in the Gurbantunggut Desert of northwest China. The duration of seed development was 40 days. Seeds reached physiological maturity 28 days after pollination (DAP), at which time 58% of them germinated and they had developed desiccation tolerance. Seeds became impermeable 36–40 DAP, when their moisture content was about 10%. The final stage of maturation drying occurred via loss of water through the hilum. The developmental stages and their timing (DAP) in seeds of E. songoricum are generally similar to those reported for other papilionaceous legumes with a water‐impermeable seed coat (physical dormancy). In general, the developmental features of seeds with water‐impermeable coats at maturity do not appear to be specific to habitat or phylogeny. |
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Keywords: | cold desert Eremosparton songoricum non‐legumes papilionoid legumes physical dormancy seed development |
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