Vegetative growth performance of five medicinal plants under NaCl salt stress

Seeds of lepidium sativum l.,linum usitatissimum l.,nigella sativa l.,plantago ovata forssk,and trigonella foenum-graecum l. were grown in pots containing loamy soil with 0.21 (control) 5.0,7.5,10.0,12.5,or 15.0 ds/m concentration of nacl to see their salinity tolerance. various concentrations of salt had a highly significant effect upon the survival %age,plant height,number of branches,shoot fresh and dry weight,root fresh and dry weight and root moisture contents. number of leaves also varied significantly. however,leaf length and shoot moisture contents exhibited non-significant differences. differences among the test species for all the parameters under consideration were also highly significant. the findings suggest that the test species are tolerant to moderate salinity i.e.,7.5 ds/m and might be tried on saline soils to obtain some biomass.