Effect of four different treatments on hard seed and germination oflegume species of Desmodium triflorum

Desmodium triflorum seeds collected in different maturing stage were treated with four chemical or physical methods, including NaOH soaking, H2SO4 soaking, physical scarification with fine sandpaper, and water soaking as control. The combination of meathod and timing for optimal germination were 0.5% NaOH for 10 minutes (58% seeds germinated), 0.5% H2SO4 for 3 minutes or 5% H2SO4 for 1 minutes (48%), and Physical scarification for 5 minutes (58%), all of which were higher than the control (38%). Germination rate in full ripe stage (55%) was higher than that in cribbing maturing (47%) and over matury stage (42%).