Seed Germination Characteristics of StachyscreticaL. subsp.anatolica Against Different Temperature Extremes

Abstract

Stachysis a medicinal plant genus which belongs to Lamiaceae family. The genus Stachysis represented by about 300 species found in the world, mostly in Europe and Asia. The Stachysspecies belong to one of the oldest medicinal plants that are used both for pharmaceutical purposes and in folk medicine; and also the plants of this genus have long been applied to treat genital tumors, sclerosis of the spleen, inflammatory tumors and cancerous ulcers. The seeds were germinated in seed beds which contains 9 cm Ø Petri dishes, double layer filter papers and distilled waterat 12 hours light/12 hours dark photoperiod and 23±1˚C for control group and at different temperature applications like 4˚C for 2, 10 and 30 days; 40, 50, 75, 100 ˚C for one day. The germination experiments took 1 month and germinated seed number was recorded at the germination table every day.According to the results the highest germination percentage was observed in control group (% 87). The lowest germination percentages (% 0) were observed in 4˚C at 30 days; 75˚C, 100˚C for 1 hour applications. The decrease of seed germination which was observed at both low and high temperature applications could be related protein degeneration which was come out because of extreme temperatures. The low temperature experiments’ results showed that this species has a stenothermal characteristic which could be dangerous for the future of Stachyscretica L. subsp. anatolica populations. The aim of this study was determining the effect of temperature as an ecological factor on the seed germination of an endemic medicinal plant which is Stachyscretica L. subsp. anatolica.