Lotus Seed Scarification

The seed of the Lotus is covered in a very hard outer covering that must first be breached to allow for water to enter the seed and hasten germination. This process is called scarification. In my research, I found different recommendations as to how to do this. Some recommend sawing through the seed coat, and others sanding down the seed coat. I decided to sand down the seed coat by scraping it against a concrete patio stone, and to do this in three different methods to see if there was any difference between them in terms of successful germination.

Beneath the dark brown outer covering of the seed coat, is a lighter brown covering that surrounds the cotyledon which in turn, is white in colour. Within the cotyledon is the lotus embryo. In the process of scarification it is important not to damage the cotyledon and certainly not the embryo itself. If you examine the lotus seed, you will notice that it has two distinct poles, a pointed end, and a dimpled end. The embryo will arise from the dimpled end. I handled the first seed rather gingerly, afraid that I may damage the embryo, so I decided to breach the seed coat with a simple linear abrasion. I soon found out how tough this little seed can be. I spent several minutes scraping the seed against the brick and then against the sharp edge of the brick to finally produce a linear breach in the seed coat...









For the second seed, I decided to scarify the dimpled end of the seed. As you will see, there is an air-space between the outer coat and the cotyledon in this area. I scraped the seed until the space was visible...


















For the third seed I scraped the side of the seed until there was a circular breach of the seed coat....
















The seeds were then soaked in water that was maintained at a temperature of 26-28C.








TECHNORATI TAGS: lotus, nelumbo nucifera, lotus seed scarification

Epocrates

This announcement was paid for by Epocrates

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