Premium
Seed survival and periodicity of seedling emergence in four weedy species of Papaver
Author(s) -
ROBERTS H. A.,
BODDRELL JUNE E.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
weed research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1365-3180
pISSN - 0043-1737
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3180.1984.tb00588.x
Subject(s) - papaver , seedling , biology , sowing , germination , papaveraceae , botany , horticulture , alkaloid
Summary Seeds of Papaver argernone, P. dubium, P. lecoqii and P. rhoeas were collected in each of three or four years and mixed with the top 7·5 cm of sterilized soil confined in cylinders sunk in the ground outdoors and cultivated three times yearly. Except for P. argemone , no more than 6% of seeds produced seedlings in the autumn of sowing; seedling numbers were usually greatest in the following year and then decreased exponentially from year to year. Mean survival of viable seeds after 5 years ranged from 7·4% for P. lecoqii to 2·0% for P. argemone. Most seedlings of all four species emerged in early spring and early autumn; emergence of P. rhoeas was greater in spring than in autumn, but the reverse was true for the other three species.