Propagation potential for the conservation of Brackenridgea zanguebarica Oliv., a critically endangered plant species endemic to Vhembe District in Limpopo Province (South Africa)

Authors

  • Makuete Andre Patrick Tiawoun Department of Botany, School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Venda, South Africa.
  • Milingoni Peter Tshisikhawe Department of Botany, School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, University of Venda, South Africa
  • Eastonce Tendayi Gwata Department of Plant Production, School of Agriculture, University of Venda, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5073/JABFQ.2020.093.008

Abstract

Brackenridgea zanguebarica Oliv. is an important multipurpose tree valued for its medicinal uses in Vhembe District. The unsustainable harvesting coupled with poor seed germination in the wild is threatening its regeneration; which poses a challenge in efforts to its conservation. This study was conducted to identify suitable methods for propagating B. zanguebarica species using seeds and stem cuttings. Seeds propagation was carried out to evaluate the effect of various pre-treatments. Vegetative propagation was tested to assess if B. zanguebarica could be successfully propagated via stem cuttings with appropriate treatments. The results showed that B. zanguebarica seeds did not germinate at all under any of the conditions tested. Stem cuttings presented a possibility of propagating this species despite the poor results obtained, where 51% of cuttings across all treatment produced buds and 17% only developed leaves without any root development. The growth media had insignificant (P > 0.05) effect on some vegetative growth parameters, while growth hormones showed significant (P < 0.05) effect in all the vegetative growth parameters of stem cuttings where IAA performed better than IBA and NNA. However, their interaction were significant (P < 0.05) on all the growth parameters of Brackenridgea zanguebarica stem cuttings except on the percentage of cuttings that produced buds (P = 0.107). The findings showed that B. zanguebarica is difficult to propagate sexually and asexually, hence, further studies are needed to identify suitable methods for both seed and vegetative propagation of this plant.

Downloads

Published

2020-03-30

Issue

Vol. 93 (2020): Journal of Applied Botany and Food Quality

Section

Plant breeding and cultivation

License

From Volume 92 (2019) on, the content of the journal is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Any user is free to share and adapt (remix, transform, build upon) the content as long as the original publication is attributed (authors, title, year, journal, issue, pages) and any changes are labelled.

The copyright of the published work remains with the authors. If you want to use published content beyond what the CC-BY license permits, please contact the corresponding author, whose contact information can be found on the last page of the respective article. In case you want to reproduce content from older issues (before CC BY applied), please contact the corresponding author to ask for permission.