Dormancy and germination of seeds of albízia (Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth)

Abstract

The albizia is an arboreous species of the Leguminosae - Mimosoideae family (Momosaceas), native of Tropical Asia and characterized for presenting good speed of growth, ability to fix nitrogen and to improve the structure of the soil, especially in degraded areas, having multiple uses and facility to be associated with agricultural crops. Two experiments were conducted with the objective of assess methods to break dormancy and verify the effect of light and temperature in the germination of seeds of Albizia. In the first, the seeds were submitted to the following treatments: humid heat, immersion in hot water, immersion in sulfuric acid, andmechanical scarification, besides a control, and then were evaluated by the germination test. In the second experiment, after treatment with sulfuric acid for 10 minutes, seeds were placed to germinate under nine combinations of light (continue, dark and alternated) and temperature (25; 35; and 25-35 ^oC).It was concluded that the species Albizia lebbeck presents seed dormancy and that mechanical scarification and the sulfuric acid treatment are efficient methods to break dormancy; that the seeds of albizia are insensitive to the light and that its germination was not influenced by the temperatures used.