Dutt, Rajneesh Kumar, Garima, Yourmila Kumari and Aruna Mehta
Abstract
Saussurea costus (Falc.) Lipsch. (syn. Saussurea lappa) is a critically endangered, endemic medicinal herb of the Western Himalaya, distributed on moist alpine slopes at 2600â4000 m. The species is highly valued in traditional medicine and for Costus oil extracted from its roots, yet overexploitation, habitat degradation, restricted distribution, and climate change have severely limited its natural regeneration. Seed dormancy further constrains its propagation and conservation. This study evaluated the effect of different pre-sowing treatments on seed germination under laboratory conditions to develop an effective propagation protocol. Treatments included cold water soaking, warm water treatment, chilling stratification (3-4 °C for 30 days), HSO scarification, GA3 (100 ppm), and IBA (100 ppm). Chilling stratification significantly enhanced germination performance, recording the highest germination percentage (77.20%) and other germination parameters, followed by GA3 treatment. The findings demonstrate that cold stratification effectively breaks seed dormancy and can facilitate large-scale propagation, supporting climate-resilient conservation and sustainable cultivation of this endangered Himalayan species