No Evidence for Differential Biomass and Mineral Content in Adult Plants Grown from Dimorphic Suaeda Aralocaspica Seeds

The production of two or more seed types by a single plant is known as seed heteromorphism. There have been many comparisons of seed traits or growth between plants grown from heteromorphic seeds. However, information is scarce regarding the mineral contents of adult plants from heteromorphic seeds. We herein present biomass and mineral profiles of adult plants grown from dimorphic seeds (non-dormant brown seeds and black seeds with non-deep physiological dormancy) of the annual desert halophyte Suaeda aralocaspica at different nutrient and salinity levels. Although nutrient and salinity treatments affected dry weight and mineral content, there were no significant differences among S. aralocaspica seed-dimorphic plants under the same experimental conditions. This study is one of the few to compare the physiological responses between seed-heteromorphic plants, and reveals that mineral status corresponds with growth performance in these plants.