Germination responses of Salicornia rubra to temperature and salinity

Salicornia rubra Nels. is one of the most salt tolerant species in the west ern half of the United States and Canada. Salicornia rubra seeds were colle cted from Goshen, Utah. Seeds were germinated at five temperature regimes a nd six salinities to determine optimal conditions for germination and recov ery from saline conditions. A temperature regime of 25 degrees C night and 35 degrees C day yielded maximum germination. The lower temperature regime 5-15 degrees C significantly inhibited seed germination. Rate of germinatio n decreased with increase in salinity. Final recovery germination percentag es in high salt treatments were significantly higher indicating that exposu re to high concentration of NaCl did not permanently inhibit germination. ( C) 2000 Academic Press.