The structural and histochemical characteristics of the Prosopis tamarugo Phil, seed-coat have been investigated by bright-field, fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy. P. tamarugo seed dormancy is exclusively due to the hardness of the seed-coat. The water barrier is thought to be located in the superficial portion of the palisade cells named “cylindrical part”, sited directly under the cone-like endings of the palisade cells themselves. The periclinal disposition of the “cylindrical parts” originates a line particularly evidenced by histochemical procedures of fluorescence that indicate their lipidic nature. It is believed that under natural environmental conditions a process of cracking deeper than this level permits water entry.

Acta botanica neerlandica

CC BY 3.0 NL ("Naamsvermelding")

Koninklijke Nederlandse Botanische Vereniging

G. Serrato Valenti, P. Modenesi, G. Roti-Michelozzi, & L. Bevilacqua. (1986). Structural and histochemical characters of the Prosopis tamarugo Phil. seed coat, in relation to its hardness. Acta botanica neerlandica, 35(4), 475–487.