Completely randomized experiments under greenhouse conditions were carried to study the role of cotyledons on the cotyledonal axillary shooting of Phaseolus vulgaris L., Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp., Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) De Wit, Prosopis juliflora (Sw.), Tamarindus indica L. and Delonix regia L. The seedlings underwent the following treatments: removal of both cotyledons on the first to the third day after emergence, removal of only one cotyledon on the first day of emergence, and no cotyledon removal. Growth recovery in P. vulgaris seedlings, as evaluated through shooting occurrence, is independent of the number of cotyledons removed on the first to the third day after emergence, but it was mostly less effective than that in V. unguiculata. Growth recovery in V. unguiculata seedlings was less effective when both cotyledons were removed on the first day of emergence as compared to the other treatments. In L. leucocephala, P. juliflora, T. indica, and D. regia seedlings, the removal of both cotyledons, on the first to the third day after emergence, suggests an increase in the mortality of seedlings. The removal of only one cotyledon did not significantly affect the percentage of seedling survival nor limit shooting to the corresponding axil of the removed cotyledon.
cotyledon removal; cotyledon function; seedling growth; leguminosae