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Improving Seed Germination Of Salicornia Rubra (Chenopodiaceae) Under Saline Conditions Using Germination-Regulating Chemicals, M. Ajmal Khan, Bilquees Gul, Darrell J. Weber

Western North American Naturalist

Salicornia rubra Nels. (Chenopodiaceae) is a salt-tolerant annual species occurring in salt playas of the Great Basin desert in western United States. It forms pioneer communities on the most saline location of an inland salt playa at Goshen, Utah. Seeds of Salicornia rubra are capable of germinating at 1000 mM NaCl at 25–35 °C alternating temperature regime. Dormancy-regulating chemicals were evaluated for their ability to alleviate the innate and salinityenforced dormancy in seeds of Salicornia rubra. Betaine, GA3, kinetin, fusicoccin, ethephon, thiourea, proline, and nitrate had no effect in alleviating primary dormancy. Increases in NaCl concentration progressively inhibited germination …