Summary
Salvia mellifera seeds from coastal sage, chaparal and desert scrub in southern California failed to germinate in the dark unless exposed to powdered charred wood. This pattern was observed for seeds given a one month stratification at 5 C and for ones not stratified and also for seeds incubated under continuous 23 C or a diurnal alternation of 13 C/23 C. Dark inhibition of germination was also overcome, but only in seeds from chaparral populations, if seeds were incubated on commerical potting soil under alternating 13 C/23 C. Seeds in the light germinated readily in all but one population from desert scrub vegetation. Germination of seeds from this population was markedly stimulated by dry heating of the seeds at either 70 C for 5 h or 115 C for 5 min. For all populations there were numerous significant interactions between incubation temperature, pre-chilling stratification, light, and heating/charred wood treatments. Timing of germination was remarkably consistent between populations; the vast majority of seeds germinated within the first week at 23 C (or 13 C/23 C) regardless of whether or not they had received a pre-chilling treatment.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Capon B, Maxwell GL, Smith PH (1978) Germination responses to temperature pretreatment of seeds from ten populations of Salvia columbariae in the San Gabriel Mountains and Mojave Desert. Aliso 9:365–373
Hanes TL (1977) California chaparral. In: Barbour MG, Major J (eds) Terrestrial vegetation of California. John Wiley, New York, pp 417–470
Hanes TL, Jones H (1967) Postfire chaparral succession in southern California. Ecology 48:259–264
Jones CS, Schlesinger WH (1980) Emmenanthe penduliflora (Hydrophyllaceae): Further consideration of germination response. Madrono 27:122–125
Keeley JE (1984) Factors affecting germination of chaparral seeds. Bull South Calif Acad Sci 83:113–120
Keeley JE, Keeley SC (1984) Postfire recovery of California coastal sage scrub. Am Midl Natur 111:105–117
Keeley JE, Nitzberg ME (1984) Role of charred wood in the germination of the chaparral herbs Emmenanthe penduliflora (Hydrophyllaceae) and Eriophyllum confertiflorum (Asteraceae). Madrono 31:208–218
Keeley JE, Morton BA, Pedrosa A, Trotter P (1985) Role of allelopathy, heat and charred wood in the germination of chaparral herbs and suffrutescents. J Ecol 73:445–458
Keeley SC, Pizzorno M (1986) Charred wood stimulated germination of two firefollowing herbs of the California chaparral and the role of hemicellulose. Am J Bot (in press)
Malanson GP, O'Leary JF (1982) Post-fire regeneration strategies of Californian coastal sage shrubs. Oecologia (Berlin) 53:355–358
Munz PA (1968) A California flora and supplement. Univ Calif Press, Berkeley
Went FW (1969) A long term test of seed longevity. II. Aliso 7:1–12
Westman WE, O'Leary JF, Malanson GP (1981) The effects of fire intensity aspect, and substrate on post-fire growth of Californian coastal sage scrub. In: Margaris NS, Mooney HA (eds) Components of productivity mediterranean regions-basic and applied aspects. Dr. W. Junk, The Hague, pp 151–179
Wicklow DT (1977) Germination response in Emmenanthe penduliflora (Hydrophyllaceae). Ecology 58:201–205
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Keeley, J.E. Seed germination patterns of Salvia mellifera in fire-prone environments. Oecologia 71, 1–5 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377311
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00377311