Laboratoire de Botanique et Valorisation de la Diversité Végétale, UFR Sciences de la Nature, Université NANGUI ABROGOUA, 02 BP 801 Abidjan 02, Côte d’Ivoire
This study focuses on the effect of seed weight on the germination and growth of Tieghemella heckelii. For this purpose, seeds were collected from a single tree. The seeds were weighed and classified into three categories according to their weight (heavy, medium, light). Five germination and five seedling growth parameters were then measured from 264 selected seeds. The germination parameters are average time of germination (TeGe), the percentage of germination (PoGe), the rate of germination (ViGe), the length of epicotyl (LoEp) and the length of hypocotyl (LoHy). The growth parameters considered are the height of the plants (TaPl), the number of leaves (NoFe), the number of branches (NoRa), the length of the roots (LoRa) and the diameter at the collar of the plant (DiPl). The best germination percentages were observed with the heavy (THL) and medium seeds (61% and 55.12% respectively). The highest germination rate (3.21 seeds/day) was also obtained with medium seeds (THM) as well as the highest growth parameters while the light seeds (THP) showed the lowest values for both germination and growth parameters. These results suggest that seed-weight-based selection is an important criterion for the regeneration of Tieghemella heckelii.