Seed Dormancy Break and Initial Seedling Development of Garcinia kola (Heckel)

The aim of this study was to determine the best pre-treatment for the optimum germination of Garcinia kola Heckel and also to investigate its early growth characteristics. The study was conducted using 5 pre-treatments, these involved soaking 20 seeds of each treatment in cold water at room temperature for periods of 48, 72, 96 hours, 1 and 2 weeks respectively, before sowing, subjecting seeds to hot water treatment at 50°C, 70°C and 90°C for 30minutes respectively, treating seeds in concentrated sulphuric acid for 10, 30 and 60 minutes respectively; removal of the seed coat of seeds and the control seeds (no treatment). Top soil was used as germination medium. The results showed that removal of seed coat and also soaking of seeds in cold water for 96 hours respectively proved very effective for germinating the seeds of G. kola and were thus recommended for its propagation. Its growth rate (17cm in 20 weeks) was quite slow, by all standards, and this gives an indication of what it could be in nature, especially given the high population density in the tropical rain forest area of Nigeria where it naturally dominates. This possibly accounted for the species being almost extinct. Thus, this study has provided better understanding of its propagation which is needed by farmers, as this will help this all important threatened species from going into extinction.