Studies on seed morphology, anatomy, dormancy and germination in Desmodium gangeticum

( selected from presentation in National Conference on Biodiversity of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Collection, Characterization and Utilization, held at Anand, India during November 24-25, 2010) Desmodium gangeticum (L.) DC. commonly known as Shalparni is a sub-tropical perennial spreading herb that grows in dry hilly areas, belongs to the family Fabaceae. This plant has unique medicinal value in Ayurveda. Information on various aspects of seed is lacking, as this information is vitally important for re-generation of plants as well as for ex-situ conservation of seeds in seed banks. Therefore, studies were conducted on seed morphology, anatomy, dormancy, germination and seed storage behaviour of the taxa with the aim to understand the above parameters for examining the feasibility of its ex-situ conservation in seed banks. Freshly harvested seed samples of D. gangeticum were procured from Zhandu Foundation, Gujrat. The seeds were examined for morphological and anatomical parameters. The seeds are bean shaped, smooth, creamish white in colour and measures 2.5 x 1.5 x 3.4 mm (length x width x thickness). Thousand seed weight is 1.5 gm. Seeds are non endospermic with small bent axile type embryo. Germination studies were conducted on top of the paper method by incubating the seeds in different temp