Colonizing populations often experience inbreeding. This inbreeding may influence the ability of these populations to establish successfully if the mass or germination behavior of inbred seeds differs from that of outbred seeds. As part of a larger investigation into the effects of seed banks on colonization in a Silene latifolia meta population located in southwestern Virginia, we created outbred and F1 and F2 inbred lines of seeds. Mean seed mass varied significantly among maternal families within breeding treatments, but did not differ significantly among the three breeding treatments. To determine if germination cues or rates differed among the three treatments, we conducted germination trials at 22 C in two light (14 hr photoperiod) and two dark growth chambers. The effects of breeding and light treatments on percent germination and germination rates will be discussed

Key words: germination, inbreeding, light treatment, seeds, Silene latifolia