Seedling Morphology of Some Species of Genus Acacia and Their Taxonomic Significance

In arid areas effective seedling germination of economically important trees can help in social forestry projects as well as livelihood generation. Investigated species of Acacia mainly found in tropical and subtropical region of India and significantly used by local communities were taken for study. Mature seeds of four Acacia species belonging to subfamily Mimosoideae were grown after standard seed treatment. Germinating seedlings characters were noted up to 3^rd to 4^th leaf stages. Seedling features such as collet, cotyledons shape, epicotyls, phyllotaxy provide distinguishing information about particular plant species seedlings. This discrimination of plant species by seedling blastogenic characters play very important role in identification, classification, conservation and delimitation of taxa at juvenile stage of plants.