Germination of Acer rubrum seeds collected from wet and dry habitats

Red maple (Acer rubrum L.) seeds were collected from three wet and three dr y sites surrounding Ithaca, New York, during the spring of 1995 and 1996. S eeds collected from wet sites were significantly heavier and longer than se eds collected from dry sites. Averaging over the two years, 96% of the wet site seeds germinated when sown fresh and stratification resulted in lower germination percentages, indicating no dormancy in wet site seeds. In contr ast, only 14% of the dry site seeds germinated when sown fresh and 52% germ inated after the 90-day stratification treatment, indicating many of the dr y site seeds were dormant upon dispersal. The significant differences in ge rmination between seeds collected from wet and dry sites suggest that the h ydrology of the collection site is a good predictor of red male germination pattern.