Scientific Note: Seed Dormancy And Germination In The Rare Plant Species Amaranthus Pumilus

Amaranthus pumilus Raf. (Amaranthaceae), Seabeach amaranth, is a federally-threatened summer annual plant species endemic to Atlantic Coastal Plain beaches in New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Historically, its range included nine states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Thus, it has been extirpated from Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993). As a contribution to the autecology and ex situ conservation of this rare “fugitive” (or pioneer) species of nonstabilized beaches (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993), we determined its seed dormancy breaking and germination requirements.