Pequi (Caryocar coriaceum Wittm) seedling emergence

Abstract

Aiming at evaluating the emergency of the seedling of Caryocar coriaceum  (Caryocaraceae), coming from species presented in Cerradão areas located in Araripe Plated - Crato-CE, an experiment was conducted from July 2002 to March 2003, in the Laboratory of Seeds, at Federal University of Ceará. The emergency tests were accomplished in stonemasons containing 50% of sand and 50% of soil with units of dispersion (putâmens), scarified and no scarified, and exposed to the temperature of 0oC for  0; 1; 2; 3 and 4 hours. It was used a factorial outline 2x5. The emergency tests were installed as a randomized block design with 10 treatments and four repetitions of 40 seeds each. Analysis of variance was used, with the averages compared through the test of Tukey at 5% of probability. The absorption of the water by the seeds denoted a very slow growth during the period of 24 hours followed by a high growth starting from this period, and stabilized in 72 hours. The percentage of Pequi emergence was low in all treatments. However the mechanical scarified seeds obtained the most effective emergency. The results were not changed by the stratification in low temperature for different periods.