<i>Joannesia princeps</i> Vell. (Euphorbiaceae) germination, phenology and morphometry of fruits, seeds and seedlings

Abstract

Joannesia princeps, popularly known as a cutieira, is a Euphorbiaceae endemic to Brazil and its wood is used for various industrial purposes and the seed has approximately 37% of useful oil for industrial and medicinal purposes, besides presenting outstanding importance in ecological succession in degraded areas, whose seeds serve as food for agoutis. The objective was to study germination, phenology and morphometry of fruits, seeds and seedlings of Joannesia princeps. We used 1,000 fruits of Joannesia princeps harvested from 40 matrices of Atlantic Forest surrounding Caparaó, which make up an existing forest in the Municipal Garden of the city of Alegre, in Espírito Santo state, in which qualitative attributes were analyzed in relation morphology. In the biometric analysis, the following were analyzed: length, diameter and thickness and seedling analyses were conducted periodically on the 6^th, 7^th, 14^th, 21^th, 28^th, 35^th and 42^th days after germination (DAG), using four replicates of 15 normal and healthy seedlings for descriptions. It was observed that the roots have changed their color of whitish for yellowish-white between the 14^th and 21^st DAG, while the hypocotyl, in the initial presented reddish color passing to green after the 14^th DAG. The other organs did not present considerable changes, however, biometrically, all organs showed an increase in their dimensions, according to the evolution of development. The morphological features described and illustrated were stable, and therefore, informative for the characterization and identification of the species in the germination process and in the first stages of development.