Abstract: Cadmium behaves as a harmful and commonly existed heavy metal in the environment,therefore it may do harm to the seed germination and seedling growth of plants. By using cadmium as experimental stress factor,germination test was conducted for observing changes in germination and seedlings growth of Althaea rosea and Orychophragmus violace after treated by cadmium aqueous solution. The results show that cadmium treatment has no effect on germination rate and germination vigor of Althaea rosea seeds,while the cadmiumwith concentration higher than 20 mg/L apparently affect the germination rate and germination vigor of Orychophragmus violace seeds.Cadmium with low-concentration has no influence on the germination index,vigor index and seedling length of Althaea rosea and Orychophragmus violace while cadmium with high concentration inhibit the germination index,vigor index and seedling length of these two species,with significant difference in contrast with that of control.The toxic effect is closely concentration depended.Althaea rosea and Orychophragmus violace in the seedling stage are more sensitive to cadmium with higher concentration.Cadmium is more toxic to Orychophragmus violace than to Althaea rosea.

Key words: Cadmium, Althaea rosea, Orychophragmus violace, Germination , Growth, Heavy metal, Stress, Toxicity

CLC Number: 

• Q949.77.3

• Q949.748.3