Germination analysis of tassel hyacinth [Muscari comosum (L.) Mill.] seeds: first results

Tassel hyacinth [Muscari comosum (L.) Mill.], a species belonging to the Liliaceae family, is a widespread spontaneous plant typical of the Mediterranean area, which bulbs are used for food, especially in Southern Italy where they represent a traditional meal. Tassel hyacinth can be propagated both by bulbs and by seeds but, since bulb growth is very slow, gamic propagation modality seems to be increased to speed up the production of bulbs. Unfortunately, Muscari comosum seeds are not easy to germinate and often pre-germinative treatments are needed. In this research, tassel hyacinth seeds were subjected to different pre-germinative treatments to estimate differences in times, speeds, and percentages of germination. Namely, soaking and osmo-priming pre-germinative treatments, both conducted at two different temperatures that is 4 and 20°C, were investigated. Seeds were immerged in distilled water for the soaking treatment whereas in the osmo-priming, to vary the osmotic pressure of the solution, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and potassium nitrate (KNO3) were used. Moreover, to determinate the effect of the pre-germinative treatments, germination was conducted at three different temperatures: 5, 10 and 20°C. Results pointed out that, regarding the osmo-priming treatments, the use of PEG has given the best results, in terms of T50 (seeds 50% germination time), MGT (Mean Germination Time), compared to soaking and KNO3. In addition, also the percentage of germination was enhanced by the application of the PEG exceeding 98%. Regarding the T50 of the seeds, the best results were obtained with the soaking treatments. Germination was also influenced by the temperature, resulting that seed treated at 4°C and germinating at 10°C (that is as known the best germinating temperature for tassel hyacinth) have reached the best results; on the other hand, the germination for the seeds kept at 20°C was quite completely inhibited.