Resumen

OLIVARES, Alfredo; JOHNSTON, Myrna  y  SALAS, Eugenio. Rainfall Distribution and Seed Production of Filaree, Erodium moschatum (L.) L´Hér.. Agric. Téc. [online]. 2004, vol.64, n.3, pp.251-263. ISSN 0365-2807.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0365-28072004000300005.

The effect of the distribution of rainfall was studied on production and quality of seeds of filaree, Erodium moschatum (L.) L’Hér. Four treatments of rainfall for a simulated normal year were compared: early, normal and late distributions, and a control without water restriction. Ten seeds, previously scarified, were sown, and after emergence were thinned to leave four seedlings per pot. Rainfall, corresponding to a real year, was applied using a serum dispenser. This treatment with no water restriction produced an average of 4025 seeds and 14.8 g total vegetative DM per pot; normal rainfall produced, in the best case, 1710 seeds and 1.2 g total vegetative DM per pot. Vegetative growth was best (12.5 g total DM per pot) in the early rainfall distribution, which produced only 638 seeds per pot. It was concluded that seed production is strongly influenced by the occurrence of rainfall during the reproductive period, thus, distribution of rain is important as it determines availability of water during the reproductive phase, particularly during development and maturation of seeds.

Palabras clave : phenological stages; water deficit; reproductive efficiency.