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Sporobolus ioclados (Nees ex Trin.) Nees (Poaceae), a halophytic grass distributed in coastal and inland regions of Pakistan, is a potential forage crop which could be grown in the degraded saline soils of the Indus plain and coastal areas. Greatest germination was obtained in non-saline control and it was linearly reduced with increases in salinity to 500 mm NaCl. Variation in temperature substantially affected germination in both the saline and nonsaline treatments. At the optimal temperature regime of 20:30degreesC, S. ioclados seeds showed 93% germination at 0 mm NaCl and 18% germination at 500 mm NaCl, respectively. In all other temperature regimes, only 50% of the seeds germinated in 0 mm while none germinated at 500 mm NaCl. Rate of germination decreased with an increase in salinity at all, temperature regimes but comparatively higher rates were obtained at 20:30degreesC. Seeds showed a low recovery response when transferred to distilled water after 20 days of exposure to salinity and tetrazolium viability test showed that most of the ungerminated seeds were dead. The present study showed that if the seed is protected from salinity and temperature stress during storage in the soil, it could germinate during monsoon rains. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.