Abstract

BORNAND, Alejandra  and  BELTRAMINI, Verónica. Morphological characterization of seed of Hibiscus cannabinus (Malvaceae) and influence of the storage time on the viability. Lilloa [online]. 2021, vol.58, n.1, pp.51-62. ISSN 0075-9481.  http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.30550/j.lil/2021.58.1/2021.04.26.

Hibiscus cannabinus L. (Malvaceae) "kenaf " is a species with an annual spring-au tumn cycle, which is cultivated for the production of fiber for paper, second genera tion bioethanol, and as forage. The objectives of this research are to characterize the morphology of H. cannabinus seed and to establish the influence of storage time on the viability of two cultivars, Endora and Tainung 1. Observations of histological sections and measurements were made with optical and stereoscopic microscopes. Germination was evaluated at 30, 180, and 730 days after harvesting. The seeds of H. cannabinus have an asymmetric, cuneiform, and/or triangular shape (ca.5.1 mm x 2.8 mm), they are endospermic and derived from a campylotropous ovule. The seed coat has unicellular, eglandular trichomes distributed over the entire surface with predominance in the hilar region. The embryo is folded, with conduplicate cotyledons of axial sub-curved position. The episperm shows a marked predomi- nance of the macrosclereid layer. The seeds of Endora and Tainung 1cultivars stored for two years at room temperature and with 9.5% humidity kept a high percentage of germination with values close to 80%. These results allow to conclude that con firm that "kenaf " seeds maintain the constant, typical and internal morphological characteristics of Malvaceae, and that the studied cultivars have a high viability, sustained over time.

Keywords : Anatomy; cultivar; episperm; germination; kenaf.

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