Variation in Seed Germination and Juvenile Growth of 12 Provenances of Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. in Arid India

The present paper reports the variation in seed germination and seedling growth of 12 provenances of Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. collected from 90N to 320N latitude, 720 to 850E longitude and 40 to 400 cm rainfall in India. There were significant differences (P< 0.05) among most of the provenances for seed germination that varied from 5% to 94% in the incubator, and 8% to 50% in the nursery. Significant variation was also observed in juvenile growth up to 32 days in the incubator, and up to 92 days in nursery. The dry weight of the seedling ranged from 147 mg in Cochin provenance to 499 mg in Hisar provenance, in the incubator, and from 3.5 g in Bangalore to 7.1 g in Raniganj provenance, in the nursery. The variations were random and did not show significant relationship with the latitude or longitude of seed source. These genetic variations are of great importance in selection of the vigorous provenance based on seed germination and juvenile characters.