THE CHANGE OF SEED SOWING QUALITIES OF WILD MIXED HERBS SPECIES OF STAVROPOL STEPPE ASSOCIATIONS DURING STORAGE

Abstract

During the restoring of natural plant associations, it is important to know the sowing
seeds quality of sown plants, which include germinating power, viability and rest period, when
the seeds do not spring up for quite a long time. Depending on the type of herbs, this period has
different duration. Therefore, the purpose of our research is to study the sowing seeds quality
of wild plant species of the mixed herbs group (representatives of families – teasel family, pink
family, labiate family, flax family, madder family, plantain family, rose family, composite
family) to restore and preserve natural herbal phytocoenosis. The objects of research were seeds
of the following types of herbs: Centaurea orientalis, Dianthus ruprechtii, Linum nervosum,
Galium ruthenicum, Plantago media, Scabiosa ochroleuca, Achillea setacea, Poterium
polygamum, Stachys atherocalyx. Seeds were collected in 2016 on virgin lands and artificially
created steppes (agrosteppes) in Shpakovsky District of the Stavropol Territory. Immediately
after seed collection, their laboratory germinating power and viability were determined. The
same measures were determined after 8, 20 and 32 months of storage. It was established that
almost all freshly harvested seeds of the mixed herbs group had low viability – from 1 to 24%.
After 8 months of storage, the seeds of the following species showed high viability: Centaurea
orientalis, Dianthus ruprechtii, Linum nervosum, Plantago media, Poterium polygamum (71-
97%). After 20 months of storage, high viability was preserved by the seeds of Linum
nervosum, Plantago media, Poterium polygamum (82-100%). The viability of Centaurea
orientalis, Dianthus ruprechtii seeds decreased to 54-66%. After 32 months of storage, a rather
high viability of seeds was shown by Dianthus ruprechtii (97%) and Poterium polygamum
(82%). In the seeds of Centaurea orientalis, viability was preserved at the same level – 58%.
Linum nervosum, Plantago media seeds kept their viability at 68-69%. At the same time, the
germinating period of freshly harvested seeds reached 34 days, but during the storage it reduced
by half.