REGENERATION POTENTIAL OF THE CANOPY-HELD SEEDS OF MELALEUCA-QUINQUENERVIA IN SOUTH FLORIDA

Melaleuca quinquenervia produces and maintains extensive seed reservoi rs in the forest canopy. We collected capsules from different infructe scences (clusters; Cluster I is the youngest, located at the most dist al position, and Cluster VII is the oldest, located at the most proxim al position) on branches from dry, seasonally flooded. and permanently flooded habitats. Extracted seeds were soaked for 10 d in sterile dei onized water and/or 2,3,5,-triphenol tetrazolium chloride (TTC) stain to assess viability. Microscopic inspections revealed that only 15% of the seeds were embryonic (filled), 50% of embryonic seeds were viable (stained red with TTC), and 73% of viable seeds were germinable after 10 d. The remaining 27% of viable seeds may have been dormant or, pos sibly, required special conditions for germination. A higher percentag e of seeds were embryonic on trees at permanently hooded habitats (18% ) when compared to dry (14%) or seasonally flooded (14%) habitats. Ove rall seed viabilities and germinabilities were comparable among the th ree habitat types. Proportions of filled seeds were constant among inf ructescence positions within each habitat. Both viability and germinab ility of seeds varied with infructescence age, both being highest in C lusters II-V and lowest in Cluster VII.