Epicotyl dormancy is a type of morphological dormancy where the epicotyl and radicle have different requirements to relieve dormancy.

In some cases the radicle emerges the first season, but the epicotyl remains dormant until it is exposed chilling stratification. These seeds can take two or more years to produce a seedling.

This is the type of dormancy originally termed double dormancy.

Photo of peony seeds.

Peony seeds