Question 5
A teak seed with a mature embryo is given water, oxygen and warmth, and still does not germinate. What is the likely cause, and the remedy?
The right answer is the one marked above.
The seed coat is impermeable, and burning the outer husk breaks the seal. Water and oxygen can then get through. This condition — not germinating although every essential factor is present — is seed dormancy.
The stem rules out an unviable seed by saying the embryo is mature, which is the only other cause of dormancy. Light is not an essential factor at all. Four of the five remedies attack the coat; only storing the seed waits for an immature embryo to ripen.