SEEDLING EMERGENCE AND BIOMETRY OF FRUITS AND SEEDS OF Cariniana pyriformis FOR A REGION IN MAGDALENA MEDIO, COLOMBIA

Abstract

Aiming at contributing to the knowledge of the biology and propagation of Cariniana pyriformis Miers, a native species with high timber and ecological attributes, ripe fruits were harvested in the municipality of El Carmen de Chucuri, Magdalena Medio region, Colombia. Initially, 400 seeds and 320 fruits were characterized in their biometry. Then, a homogenous seed sample was immersed for 24 hours in five doses (0, 250, 500, 750 and 1000 mg L^-1) of gibberellins (GA₃) and cultivated in a greenhouse. For this, a completely randomized design was adopted with six repetitions of 25 seeds each. Fruits and seeds showed values, on average ± standard deviation, of 76.1 ± 11 mm and 48.1 ± 8.2 mm in length, and 49.6 ± 5 mm and 7.2 ± 0.7 mm of width, respectively, with 62.3 ± 22.3 g of fresh mass per fruit and 13 ± 3.1 seeds per fruit. One kilogram corresponded on average to 6715 seeds with 11% humidity. In the greenhouse, emergence speed index and emergence percentage of seedlings increased as the GA₃ dose increased, allowing a more unimodal distribution of the relative frequency of emergence. There is higher variation in the biometry of C. pyriformis for fresh mass per fruit (CV= 35%) and number of seeds per fruit (CV= 24%). Immersion of seeds is recommended with 1000 mg L^-1 in GA₃ for 24 hours because it increases, accelerates and synchronizes the emergency until reaching 71%.