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Germination and seedling growth of Myroxylon balsamum (L.) Harms in the department of Sucre
Authors: Iris Rocío Payares-Díaz , Oscar Armando Mario-Contreras, Manuel Antonio Medrano-Vélez, Euriel Millán-Romero
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Myroxylon balsamum is in great demand in Central America as its botanical and wood properties are useful in the pharmaceutical, timber and cosmetics industries. In Colombia, it is classified as near threatened (NT) due to over-exploitation for resin or wood, or habitat destruction in the department of Sucre. A guide was necessary to establish propagation practices for population restoration in natural areas. Here we quantify and analyze the germination behavior ofM. balsamum. During the germination process, testa rupture occurred 15 days after sowing; obtaining a germination percentage of 77, 2% and germination rate of 23.3 days. The coefficient of variation for variable seedling height (AP), root length (LR), number of leaves (NH) and number of nodes per seedling (NN) generally showed a wide dispersion, but it was greater in the variables LR y NN. This high behavioural diversity maybe due to the provenance of the seed by different mother plants, their maturity or differences in genetic and physiological characteristics.