Testing of Seeds of Thespesia populnea for Mycoflora, Germination and Pathogenicity

Thespesia populnea is a medicinally valuable tree. Investigations were carried out to evaluate seed mycoflora and their effect on seed germination and seedling vigour. Enhanced germination was observed in top of the paper method compared to between paper method and sand method. Incidence of seed mycoflora was low in surface sterilized seeds using 2% sodium hypochlorite compared to non-surface sterilized seeds. Fusarium verticilloides exhibited deletious effect on seeds of Thespesia populnea compared to all other treated fungi irrespective of the germination method used.