Viability of Hawaiian Forest Tree Seeds in Storage 
at Various Temperatures and Relative Humidities^ 
Ernest K. Akamine^ 
INTRODUCTION 
In Hawaii the Territorial Board of Commis- 
sioners of Agriculture and Forestry is charged 
with the maintenance of forest reserves. Be- 
fore World War II forest tree seeds were im- 
ported from outside sources for reforestation 
purposes. During the war years, when seeds 
could not normally be imported because of 
the critical shipping situation, it was realized 
that some locally harvested tree seeds could 
not be kept under ordinary conditions for any 
extended period without impairment of their 
viability. 
At the request of the Territorial Board of 
Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry, 
studies on the viability of forest tree seeds 
were pursued at the University of Hawaii 
Agricultural Experiment Station between the 
years 1944 and 1948. Seeds of the following 
trees were tested: paper bark {Melaleuca Leu- 
cadendron Linn.), brush box {Tr/stanla con- 
ferva R. Br.), turpentine tree {Syncarpia lauri- 
folia Ten.), Norfolk Island pine {Araucaria 
excelsa R. Br.), mamani {Sophora chrysophylla 
Seem.), Monterey cypress {Cupressus macro- 
carpa Hartw.), and Indian sandalwood {San- 
talum album Linn.). It is the purpose of this 
paper to present the results of experiments 
designed to develop practical means of pro- 
longing the viability of seeds of these forest 
trees under storage. 
^Published with the approval of the Director of the 
University of Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station 
as Technical Paper 213. Manuscript received March 
23, 1950. 
^Department of Plant Physiology, University of 
Hawaii College of Agriculture, Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station. 
It had previously been found that because 
the prevailing temperatures and relative hu- 
midities of the atmosphere in Hawaii are 
generally high, seeds of garden, field, and 
forage crops in ordinary storage deteriorated 
rapidly (Akamine, 1943). It was further de- 
termined that, in order to maintain their 
longevity, seeds should be stored in a medium 
in which either the temperature or the relative 
humidity is kept below that of the atmos- 
phere, or, better still, in a medium in which 
both the temperature and the relative hu- 
midity are kept below those of the air. 
Germination and viability studies con- 
ducted on forest tree seeds have not been as 
extensive as those conducted on seeds of other 
species. Cold storage prolonged the life of 
Noble fir seed (Isaac, 1934). Moss (1938) 
found that seeds of three species of Populus 
produced a germination of 70 per cent after a 
storage period of 2 years under calcium 
chloride at 23° F. These seeds lost their via- 
bility in 2 to 4 weeks when they were stored 
at room temperature (70° F.). Coniferous 
seeds have been successfully stored for several 
years in sealed containers at 36° to 40° F., 
provided the moisture content of the seeds 
did not exceed 5 to 8 per cent (Heit and 
Eliason, 1940; Latour, 1942). The literature 
on viability studies of forest tree seeds has 
been reviewed by Tourney and Korstian 
(1931: 109-152) and by Baldwin (1942: 81- 
94). More recently Crocker (1948: 28-66) 
and Porter (1949) also reviewed the work on 
storage studies of seeds, including those of 
forest trees. 
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