UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 



IN 



BOTANY 



Vol. 5, No. 5, pp. 199-222 



Issued May 15, 1913 



NOTES ON THE GERMINATION OF 

 TOBACCO SEED 



HBR/iRY 



NEW > 



botanical, 

 Qarden. 



BY 

 THOMAS HARPER GOODSPEED 



[The relation between the age of tobacco seed and its viability 

 and between the viability of parent and hybrid seed; together 

 with notes on the value of treatment with sulfuric acid in hasten- 

 ing germination and increasing its amount.] 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



T. Introduction 199 



II. Seed used 201 



III. Methods : 202 



(a) Germinating conditions in general 202 



(b) In connection with sulfuric acid treatment 203 



. IV. Results with sulfuric acid treatment 204 



V. Age of seed vs. its germination 209 



VI. The germination of parent vs. hybrid seed 21.5 



VII. Summary of results 219 



VTTI. Discussion of results 220 



I. INTRODUCTION 



The difficulty experienced this year (1912) in germinating 

 the seed of Nicotiana attenuata (JJ. C. B. G. 78/09) (Setchell, 

 1912, p. 24) was the occasion for a number of experiments with 

 reference to the possibility of bringing about more rapid and 

 complete germination in such cases. The interesting experi- 

 ments of Love and Leighty (1912) in connection witli the effect 

 upon germination of sulfuric acid treatment in the case of clover 



