Effect of Temperature on Seed Germination of Korean Native Viola Species

Present studies were performed to determine the physiology of seed germination in Viola species native to Korea. Twelve species, 1 variety and 1 form were collected, classified and used as materials: V. collina, V. blandaefomis, V. rosii, V. chaerophylloides, V. phalacrocarpa, V. patrinii, V. mandshurica, V. mandshurica for. albescence, V. seoulensis, V. yedoensis, V. keiskei, V. variegata, V. variegata var. chinensis, and V. verecunda. V. tricolor 'Helen Mount' was also used to compare wild with cultivated species. In order to investigate the effect of temperature on seed germination, seeds stored at $4{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ for 10 months or 4 years were incubated at 10, 15, 20, $25^{\circ}C$ under 16h illumination with 4 replicates per treatment. Seeds which had not germinated at $10^{\circ}C$ were transferred to $30^{\circ}C$ to assess the effect of temperature change in germination. Germination percent and the days of first, 40% and 80% germination were assessed. Capability of seed germination varied with taxon; Species belonging to subsection Patellares had high ability of germination, compared to species in the other subsections, and series Chinensis was the best among subsection Patellares. Species capable of high germination germinated in all temperatures with reasonably high germination rate, but the other species responded sensitively to temperature with different germination patterns. Higher the temperature, shorter the incubation time required for first, 40% and 80% of germination. Therefore, high temperature was effective in almost all species, not only for inducing high rate of germination but also the uniformity of germination. Temperature change from $10^{\circ}C\;to\;30^{\circ}C$ had a positive effect on seed germination.