Morphological, phenological and seed germination studies in Rheum australe D Don: An endangered medicinal plant

Abstract

The experiment on Rheum australe an endangered medicinal plant was conducted at Dr. Y.S. Parmar U.H.F, Nauni, Solan Himachal Pradesh. The present study was conducted to determine the seed germination behavior of Rheum australe an endangered medicinal plant of high altitude Himalayas under different field conditions viz. open, glass house and shade net house and different time of sowings at lower altitude of 1250 m of mid hill conditions of Himachal Pradesh. Seeds were harvested during October month from different natural ecological zones of Himachal Pradesh. Seed germinability was tested in the mixture of soil+ sand+ vermicompost+ cocopeat (2:1:1:1). The results showed that maximum seed germination (83.00 per cent) was recorded under shade net house conditions in soil +sand+ vermicompost+ cocopeat (2:1:1:1) media, when the seeds were sown during November month. Morphological and phenological studies were conducted both in natural habitat and under laboratory conditions. Qualitative and quantitative data was recorded for plant habit, root, stem and leaf, floral characteristics, flowering duration and fruit and seed type.