Authors: Grace McFarlane
Mentors: Michael Rotter
Insitution: Utah Valley University
Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) is a native shrub to North America, and can be an important component in restoring native plant communities. Members of this genus tend to have physically hard seeds and low germination rates, resulting in a lack of ability to grow this plant by seeds and increasing genetic diversity in restoration sites. We investigated six different methods in order to produce higher germination rates, tracking them over time. Using seeds from three different populations we planted these thimbleberry seeds in groups of 50 for each germination method, monitoring the rates of growth and the success rate percent. These methods included standard planting as our control, cold stratification using a fridge, scarification with sandpaper, hot water bath by boiling the seeds, acid bath with sulfuric acid, and a room temperature soak in water overnight. Our goal is to identify a standard procedure for high germination rates and success.