Difference in germination response to cold stratification intervals between two dwarf bamboo species, Sasa cernua and S. senanensis

摘要

Dwarf bamboo species are monocarpic and seldom flower or bear fruit. We observed the small-scale flowering of two dwarf bamboo species, Sasa cernua and S. senanensis, at the Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Sapporo, Central Hokkaido and obtained their seeds. We investigated the germination response of these two species to repeated cold periods and found that the dormancy period of S. senanensis seeds was longer than that of cernua seeds. In the course of fiverepeats of cold treatments, most of the S. cernua seeds had germinated after the second cold period, while majority of S. senanensis seeds did not until after the fourth or fifth cold period. This difference between the two species was statistically significant.