Tolerance of Ormosia arborea (Fabaceae) seed to water submersion

Abstract Soil flooding restricts the availability of the oxygen necessary to activate the embryonic physiological processes that characterize seed germination. However, some species have adaptations that allow them to grow naturally in areas prone to flooding, such as Ormosia arborea, a native species of the Atlantic forest and the Cerrado. The objective of this work was to evaluate how seed germination and emergence in this species were affected by submersion in water and scarification. In experiment 1, the seeds were scarified by 15 minutes in sulfuric acid and was subsequently sown in tubes submerged in water for 0, 15, 30 and 45 days. In experiments 2 and 3, seeds were submerged in running water for the same period and, after each time of submersion, were scarified by 0, 5, 10 and 15 minutes in sulfuric acid and sown either in tubes and in Germitest® paper. It was found that, after breaking the tegumental dormancy, 15 days of flooding is enough to derail the germination of O. arborea seeds that tolerate submersion in water when they are intact. This response indicates that the hard, impermeable seed coat is an important seed characteristic for this response.