Dormancy and Impotency of Cocklebur Seeds

Dormant seeds of cocklebur (Xanthium pennsylvanicum Wallr.) were characterized by the lack of ability to form chlorophyll. Such an inability of cotyledons of the dormant seeds was improved by the application of various factors and reagents which were capable of breaking the dormancy and of increasing cotyledon enlargement. Of these, ethylene, benzyladenine, and high temperature treatments were particularly effective, and, in turn, oxygen enrichment, gibberellic acid, thiourea, carbon doxide, and potassium nitrate were also promotive to the greening of the dormant cotyledons. The effects of benzyladenine, oxygen enrichment, and high temperature were reduced in the presence of absorbents for endogenously evolve carbon dioxide and ethylene. delta-Aminolevulinic acid could not restore their greening ability.