TITLE:
Seedling Production from Seeds of a Wild Ecotype of Vetiver Grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) in Southern China
AUTHORS:
Wangou Liu, Xueyi Lin, Jieying Luo, Meiling Yao, Yeting Gu, Meinan Xie, Jinxiang Liu, Qifu Ma
KEYWORDS:
Wild Vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides L.), Seed-Born Seedling, Bagging, Tween 80, Population Degeneration
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.12 No.3,
March
30,
2021
ABSTRACT: Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) is widely used for
soil and water conservation, and land management. In practice, all vetiver
seedlings are propagated via ramets or tillers, which cannot meet the market
demand and would also destroy the original habitat. Most vetiver genotypes flower but do not produce seeds. A wild ecotype
of vetiver grass originated in southern China is fertile, but the rate of seed
germination is very low. This study aimed to develop a novel method to improve
its seed germination and seedling establishment. In the field, the
inflorescences of wild vetiver were wrapped using a transparent plastic bag
with a pot containing wet soils. The effects of inflorescence bagging and Tween
80 application on seed germination and seedling growth were examined. The
results showed that seed development was characterized by low seed setting rate
(19.2%), uneven maturity time, easy shedding (more than 95% of spikelets shed
off 20 days after flowering), therefore difficult harvest of viable seeds.
Bagging the inflorescence with moist soils in pot ensured the mature seeds
falling onto the nursery soil surface and absorbing water for germination while
the immature seeds continued to grow on the inflorescence. Bigging not only
improved seed development and maturity, saved the procedure of seed collection
and storage, but also provided a humid micro-environment for seed germination
and seedling growth. Tween 80 as a surfactant promoted seed water absorption,
germination and seedling growth. This simple and novel method has integrated
the procedures of seed collection, storage, germination and seedling
establishment, and enables the production of a large number of healthy seedlings. The possible reasons for the degeneration and
disappearance of the original population were also discussed from the
perspective of the disadvantages of vetiver propagation.