Longevity of Certain Weed and Crop Seeds in Fresh Water

Abstract

Seeds of 82 species of weed and crop plants were tested for germinability after dry storage or storage in fresh water for 3 to 60 months. Seeds of 24 species did not germinate after storage in water for 12 months or less; whereas some seeds of 27 species germinated after 60 months in water storage. When stored in water for longer than 12 months some seeds of only 22% of the annual monocots tested germinated; whereas about 75% of the perennial monocots, and annual and perennial dicots germinated. Species whose seeds consistently germinated better after water storage than after dry storage were western waterhemlock [ Cicuta douglasii (DC.) Coult. & Rose], woolly sedge (Carex lanuginosa Michx.), pale smartweed (Polygonum lapathifolium L.), bouncingbet (Saponaria officinalis L.), and blue vervain (Verbena hastata L.).