Effects of Different Treatments on Seed Germination of Gleditsia microphylla and Gleditsia sinensis

Seeds of Gleditsia microphylla and Gleditsia sinensis are hard and the seed coat is poor in water permeability, so the germination and seedling rates are very low under natural conditions. Therefore, scraping seed coat at different parts of seed (top, middle, bottom), seed soaking at different temperatures (25 ℃, 37 ℃, 42 ℃) and germinating in different types of soil (clay, sandy soil, nutrient soil) on germination rate were explored under laboratory conditions in this study. The results showed that the seeds had highest germination rates under combined conditions of scraping seed coat at radicle end, then soaking seeds at 37 ℃ for 8h or 16h and germinating in clay. Average germination rate of Gleditsia microphylla reached 88.33% and Average germination rate of Gleditsia sinensis reached 94.33, and the seedlings came out evenly.