Influence of Seed Treatment on Germination Pattern of Chamaerops humilis

Dwarf fan palm (Chamaerops humilis L.) is an important Mediterranean species well known for many uses such as gardening, environmental restoration, and technological uses. Dwarf fan palm is usually propagated from seed, which takes up to 100 days to germinate. The germination pattern of dwarf palm seeds was studied during a 100-days length period in relation to different pre-sowing treatments (hot water, sulphuric acid, or mechanical scarification) in comparison to untreated control. A covariance analysis was performed to test the effect of time within seed-treatment treatment. All germination patterns were significantly fitted by a S-shaped (sigmoidal) distribution function with the general equation y=β+α/(1+exp(-(x-μ)/s)). Treatment with sulphuric acid significantly increased the final germination in comparison to untreated control. No differences were observed in % germination among the other seed treatments. Seed treatments increased by three to seven fold the maximum germination rate and reduced by 26% the mean germination time in comparison to untreated control. The reduction in mean germination time, and the increase in percentage germination and germination rate may have economical implication in the production of dwarf palm and its involvement in environmental restoration strategies, with no need to use dangerous or expensive acid pre-treatment in order to increase the propagation success.