| Abstract: | Grains stimulated to germinate by removal of the outer pericarpshow three types of embryo growth according to their physiologicalage. The first type gives rise only to callus tissue, the secondpredominantly to growth of the coleoptile, which fails to penetratethe testa, and the third, to normal germinative growth. Thesecond type of growth (coleoptile only) corresponds to a conditionreferred to as ‘non-visible’ sprouting, occasionallyfound in prematurely sprouted grains in the field. The phasesof germination capacity are related to total grain moistureand not to the chronological age of the grain, i.e. days post-anthesis.The effects of drying upon grain germinability are also discussedand it is shown that drying can cause both qualitative and quantitativechanges in germination capacity. Key words: Wheat embryo, Germination capacity, Germinability |
