MSc. Summary

Abstract Germination and Flowering in Sisyrinchium bermudiana L. Glenn L. Roberts                                                                                                                                      Supervisor: University of Guelph, 1990                                                                                                                      Dr. M. J. Tsujita Germination Seeds of Sisyrinchium bermudiana, an endemic plant of Bermuda (zone 8), exhibit a weak dormancy through the winter months in Bermuda. Seed germination was enhanced about 35% by leaching in flowing water for 48 hours or by soaking in 500ppm gibberellic acid for 48 hours. Scarification reduced germination slightly while darkness inhibited it completely. Photoperiod Plants initiated flowers in 10-hour short days when given 10 - 11 weeks of inductive cycles. These results were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy of the shoot apex at weekly intervals under short day regimes. The flowers of the cymose inflorescences alternate down the rachis. Stamens and tepals develop first as a common stamen-tepal primordium which bifurcates to form an outer whorl of tepals with stamens opposite. All flowers are subtended by spathe-like bracts.