Scarification of Prairie vs Common Milkweed Seeds
Location
CoLab, COM 343
Start Date
30-4-2026 2:30 PM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Our experiment was to see what the effect of scarification has on the germination of milkweed seeds. The milkweed plant population has decreased and thus lessening the main food source for the monarch butterfly larva and causing the population of monarch butterflies to decrease as well. To help with this issue, we took 30 common milkweed seeds and 30 prairie milkweed seeds, and scarred them at differing times in the cold stratification process to see if the scarification would affect the germination rate. We learned that prairie milkweed seeds do not need to be scarified to germinate successfully, but actually hinders the germination entirely. We also learned that we need to add moisture during the cold stratification process to allow more moisture into the seeds. More research is needed to find the most efficient way to ensure the growth of milkweed, so the monarch butterflies have a place to put their larvae, and thus growing the population of the butterflies.
Image
Scarification of Prairie vs Common Milkweed Seeds
CoLab, COM 343
Our experiment was to see what the effect of scarification has on the germination of milkweed seeds. The milkweed plant population has decreased and thus lessening the main food source for the monarch butterfly larva and causing the population of monarch butterflies to decrease as well. To help with this issue, we took 30 common milkweed seeds and 30 prairie milkweed seeds, and scarred them at differing times in the cold stratification process to see if the scarification would affect the germination rate. We learned that prairie milkweed seeds do not need to be scarified to germinate successfully, but actually hinders the germination entirely. We also learned that we need to add moisture during the cold stratification process to allow more moisture into the seeds. More research is needed to find the most efficient way to ensure the growth of milkweed, so the monarch butterflies have a place to put their larvae, and thus growing the population of the butterflies.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Sarah Powell.