Phoenix canariensis Hort. ex Chabaud is a palm tree of great ornamental value native to the Canary Islands. Its commercial propagation is done by sexual means and there are only few studies on seed germination under the influence of various factors such as maturation stage and temperature. We tried to evaluate the seed germination of P. canariensis using fruits at different maturarion stages under different temperatures. The experiment was arranged in a complete randomized design in a 2 x 5 factorial scheme (two maturation stages and five temperature conditions), with four samples containing 25 seeds each. Brownish and orangish fruits had their pulp removed and their germinative capacity was evaluated by a germination test conducted in BOD incubation chambers under the temperatures of 25ºC, 30ºC, 35ºC, 20-30ºC and 25 35ºC, and photoperiod of 16L:8D. Seeds were sown on vermiculite. The results obtained in this experiment led to the conclusion that the alternate temperatures of 20-30ºC were the best for the germination of P. canariensis seeds from mature fruits ( brownish fruits), resulting in 98% of germination.
Palm tree; Canary Island date palm and Propagation
