اﺛﺮ ﺧﺸﻜﻲ و اﻧﺪازه ﺑﺬر ﺑﺮ ﺟﻮاﻧﻪزﻧﻲ وﺧﺼﻮﺻﻴﺎت رﺷﺪ اﻛﻮﺗﻴﭗﻫﺎی رازﻳﺎﻧﻪ ( oeniculum vulgare )

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) belongs to the Apiaceae family, is native to Mediterranean regions, is a biennial or perennial herb, and has feathery leaves and golden yellow flowers. Fennel is used for various purposes in the food, cosmetic, and medical industries. The increasing commercial value of fennel necessitates the need to develop elite ecotypes with high desired traits. In agronomy operations in term of cost reduction of production (thinning, weeding and…) and increase of yield, one of the desired properties is good early establishment. In this study, the effects of drought stress (0, -1/5, -3 and -4/5 bar) and seed size (large, medium and small) of seed of 15 ecotypes of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) from different part of Iran on germination and growth properties were evaluated. The results indicated that all of the traits were significantly affected by seed size, ecotype and drought stress, so that larger seeds had the highest percentage and speed of germination, length of root and length of stem. As conclusion, larger seed are more tolerable to drought stress also ecotypes of Sanandaj and Rafsanjan were the most tolerable ecotypes against drought stress.