Estudo da morfologia e germinação de sementes de jaborandi (Pilocarpus microphyllus Stapf ex Holmes)

Abstract

Pilocarpus microphyllus Stapf ex Holmes, known as jaborandi and jaborandi-legitimate, belonging to the family Rutaceae, is a shrubby plant small found mainly in northern and northeastern Brazil. It is the only natural source of pilocarpine, which has medicinal properties, widely used in the pharmaceutical industry for the production of medicament against glaucoma. It is known that the morphological study of seed and seedlings is important for improving knowledge about particular species and that germination is a key factor for the seed can generate a seedling. Thus, the present work was to study the morphology of seeds, seedlings and germination in relation to different conditions of light and temperature. The morphological description was made for 60 days from sowing 200 seeds in sand at 25 ° C chamber with the use of cross-section to the internal morphology. The morphological aspects were illustrated by photos. The germination test was conducted at four different temperatures, because there is no recommendation for the species, and gave the thousand seed weight, both methods evaluated on the basis of Seed Analysis Rules. The jaborandi seed is kidney-shaped, with black, smooth and shiny integument. The germination is hypogeal type, with seven morphological stages. Jaborandi seeds are indifferent to light germinating best at constant temperature of 25 ° C or 30 ° C.