The Effect of Cold and Acid Scarification on Seed Germination of Three Green Space Tree Species

Seed germination of some woody species is done with difficulty and at a low rate due to various reasons, including physiological and mechanical dormancy and the presence of inhibitory substances in the seed tissues. Priming is one of the most important treatments to increase the germination capacity of seeds. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different treatments of stratification and sulfuric acid on the growth and germination percentage of Robinia pseudoacacia, Ailanthus altissima and Fraxinus excelsior seeds. This research was done as factorial in the randomized completely block design with two factors; plant and stratification in four replications. The results showed that the highest percentage of germination (72%) was obtained in the 50% sulfuric acid treatment on R. pseudoacacia, seeds and the lowest one (18 and 12%) in the control and 95% sulfuric acid treatments on F. excelsior seeds, respectively. The overall results of this research showed that the best stratification treatment for most of the measured traits was 50% sulfuric acid and 3°C cold for 20 days.