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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 30, Number 2 (1979) → Relationships of Seed Size, Number of Cotyledons, and Initial Growth of Southern Pines

Relationships of Seed Size, Number of Cotyledons, and Initial Growth of Southern Pines

The high cost of producing seed from orchards and impending increases in the use of containerized seedlings for artificial regeneration have renewed interest in sizing southern pine seeds. Past research has not shown sizing to have any consistent advantage except that it facilitates uniform sowing in nurseries (1). Findings have been contradictory. Some investigators report superior germination and faster early growth from large seed, while others detected no differences (4,5,6). Differences among species or methods of sizing (by weight or screening) may account for some of the conflict in results. This study explored the interrelationships among seed size, number of cotyledons, and early growth. It was theorized that large seed are apt to have a greater number of cotyledons. Since cotyledons carry on photosynthesis after the seedcoat is shed (3), it was also theorized that seedlings with the greatest number would grow fastest in early months of development.


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Author(s): William F. Mann, Jr.

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 30, Number 2 (1979)

Section: general

Volume: 30

Number: 2