Abstract Epimedium species are shade-tolerant perennials with flowers and leaves that vary in color, making them valuable groundcover plants. We investigated the dormancy of E. koreanum seeds and their requirements for embryo growth and germination. First, the phenology of embryo growth, germination, and seedling emergence under field conditions were observed. Then, the effects of temperature sequences and gibberellic acid (GA3) treatment on dormancy and germination were evaluated in two laboratory experiments. Under field conditions, the underdeveloped embryos grew very little from June to early September, while rapid growth of the embryos was observed from late September to November. Embryo growth was completed by early December, resulting of 16-fold increase of the initial length of the embryo. The seeds had germinated in March of the following year, and the germination percentage reached 84.4 %. In the laboratory experiments, embryos hardly grew when the seeds were incubated at a constant temperature of 20 or 15 °C. When the seeds were warm stratified at 25 °C and then moved to lower temperatures of 20 and 15 °C, the embryo grew rapidly. Germination then occurred after cold stratification at 5 °C for 12 weeks. However, if seeds were subjected to cold stratification first, the embryo did not grow, and no seeds germinated. GA3 treatment increased embryo growth in the seeds, but few seeds germinated less than 10 %. Based on these results, seed dormancy of E. koreanum can be broken through warm followed by cold stratification. Therefore, the seeds can be classified as having deep simple morphophysiological dormancy. This is the first report of the ecophysiology of seed dormancy and germination in the genus Epimedium in the Korean peninsula.

中文翻译：

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朝鲜淫羊藿种子休眠与萌发

摘要 淫羊藿属耐阴多年生植物，花叶颜色各异，是珍贵的地被植物。我们调查了 E. koreanum 种子的休眠状态及其对胚胎生长和发芽的要求。首先，观察田间条件下胚胎生长、发芽和出苗的物候。然后，在两个实验室实验中评估了温度序列和赤霉酸（GA3）处理对休眠和萌发的影响。在田间条件下，6月至9月初发育不全的胚生长很少，而9月下旬至11月则观察到胚的快速生长。胚胎生长于 12 月初完成，导致胚胎初始长度增加了 16 倍。次年3月种子已发芽，发芽率达84.4%。在实验室实验中，当种子在 20 或 15°C 的恒温下孵化时，胚胎几乎不生长。当种子在 25°C 温热分层，然后移至 20 和 15°C 的较低温度时，胚胎迅速生长。然后在 5°C 下冷分层 12 周后发芽。但是，如果先对种子进行冷分层，则胚不生长，种子也不会发芽。GA3 处理增加了种子中的胚生长，但很少有种子发芽率低于 10%。基于这些结果，E. koreanum 的种子休眠可以通过暖层和冷层来打破。因此，可以将种子归类为具有深度简单的形态生理休眠。