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| | CISTACEAE - A PLANT FAMILY WITH HARD SEEDS -- Web of Science v4.3.1 - Suntrial (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-04) |
 | | An examination of 203 seed lots from 42 Old World species (or 54 taxa), with representatives from all five genera (Cistus, Fumana, Halimium Helianthemum, and Tuberaria) and an additional seed lot of the New World Lechea maritima shows that the phenomenon of hardseededness is a prominent characteristic of the entire Cistaceae family. |
 | | A seed ecology syndrome for Cistaceae is postulated, featuring small seed size, hardcoatedness (primary dormancy), short-distance dispersal, long-term persistence in soil seed banks, fire- or heat-induced seed ''softening'', an opportunistic strategy of germination (germination at a wide range of temperature and light conditions), and a slow germination rate of ''softened'' seeds. |
 | | This syndrome is suggested to endow Cistaceae, a principally Mediterranean family, with a considerable ecological advantage in the summer-dry and fire-prone Mediterranean climatic conditions. |
| www.biology.uoa.gr /~cthanos/Papers/Abstracts/Cistaceae.htm (181 words) |
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