Are cactus growth forms related to germination responses to light? A test using Echinopsis species

In this study, we investigated the effect of light regimen (white light vs. darkness) on the germination of 12 species of the Echinopsis genus (tribe Trichocereeae, Cactaceae). This genus presents a variety of growth forms and relatively small and uniform seed size. These traits allowed us to test, within the same linage and removing seed mass effect, the hypothesis that the germination response to light (indifferent to light or positive photoblastic) is related to growth form. Our results reject this hypothesis since no seeds germinated in darkness, so all of the species can be classified as being positively photoblastic. The proportion of seed germination with white light was significantly different among cactus growth forms. Columnar cacti (arborescent, creeping and short) showed a greater proportion of seed germination than barrel and globose cacti. The germination rate differed among growth forms and species. At constant temperatures, creeping columnar cacti presented a significantly higher germination rate than the other growth forms. With alternating temperatures, columnar cacti showed higher germination rates than the other growth forms. The low proportion of seeds that germinated for some species indicates that they show seed dormancy. Our results suggest that germination responses to light in the cactus family could be related to seed mass and phylogenetic constraints.