Germination study in three species of genus gladiolus

The germination of three species of genus Gladiolus, G. illyricus, G. italicus and G. tristis (var. tristis and concolor) was studied. The seeds used had different origins: G. illyricus seeds originated from wild plants and plants cultivated both in an unheated greenhouse and in the open air. G. italicus seeds originated from plants cultivated both in an unheated greenhouse and in the open air and G. tristis seeds originated from plants cultivated in an unheated greenhouse. Seeds were germinated on Petri dishes in different germination chambers. Different temperatures (13 °C, 15 °C, 18 °C and 20/15 °C) and light conditions (12-h photoperiod and total darkness) were used. Each lot consisted of 100 seeds. The G. italicus germination percentage was almost zero in all the treatments except in seeds from greenhouse-cultivated plants germinated at 13 °C in darkness (6 %). The percentage of G. tristis var. concolor germination was good, except in the 20/15 °C 12-h photoperiod treatment, when it was 29 %. Similar results were obtained with G. tristis var. tristis, although with higher percentages of germination. In G. illyricus the highest percentages of germination were obtained at 13 and 15°C from seeds gathered from plants cultivated in an unheated greenhouse and from wild plants.