The sale of handcraft made from S. nitens' scapes is an important source of income in the Jalapão region, Tocantins state. Understanding seed production and dispersal periods, and germination potential is essential to management strategies that guarantee the ecological and economic sustainability of this activity. To characterize the seed production period, capitula were collected from August to December 2003. Germination experiments were conducted in a germination chamber at 22-30 ºC, under white light (12hour photoperiod) and darkness. Germination was also studied under conditions of hypoxia and acidity (pH 4 and 5). Seed production began in September and most dispersal occurred from October to November. The germination of seeds collected in September and October was 92 ± 7% (m ± SD). Seeds collected after November had significantly lower germination capacity. Acidity and hypoxia did not affect seed germination. The seeds are positive photoblastic and maintain high germination even after freezing (-20 ºC). Harvesting and manual seed dispersal by the harvesters just after harvesting are important management strategies to guarantee the sustainability of this important economic activity and have no negative impact on handcraft activity, which is based on the use of scapes and not flowers.
harvesting; everlasting flowers; Cerrado; humid grasslands; non-timber forest products - NTFP
