Dr. Deno writes in his book Seed Germination Theory and Practice:
Germinations also tend to take place either in the 40[°F] region or the 70[°F] region of
temperatures. However, with germinations the division is not so complete. Examples
were found where germination would take place at both 40 and 70.
So I have always thought the definitions of the terms "warm germinator" and "cool germinator" would be straight forward:
--- warm germinators are species that germinate in the 70F region.
--- cold germinators are species that germinate in the 40F region.
This corresponding to the temperature spurring actual seed germination (not necessarily the emergence above ground) and being regardless of any pretreatments.
And to be more precise, I would designate thusly:
--- cold/warm germinators: seeds that require cold conditioning prior to emergence in the ensuing warm conditioning.
--- warm/cold/warm germinators: seeds that require warm conditioning, then cold condition, before they emerge in the ensuing warm conditioning.
--- warm/cold germinators: seeds that require warm conditioning before emergence in the ensuing cold conditioning.
--- Etc.
I was quite comfortable with my way of thinking, until Lori came along with a different point of view:
Rightly or wrongly ... I've always assumed that "warm germinators" were just those that don't need fluctuating temperatures to break down germination inhibitors, not that they actually need warm temperatures to germinate... ?
In my mind, I would call those easy warm germinators if they germinate in the 70F region, and easy cool germinators if they germinate in the 40F region. Dr. Deno mentions the term "immediate germinators" for seeds where simple drying overcomes germination inhibitions, but does not endorse its use.
Gee, we really need to be all on the same page here, and I would happily change my personal definitions to fit the prevailing thought.
So, what are the generally accepted names for such scenarios?