Morphological characteristics of seedling development of C. moschata, O. catharinensis and E. paniculata, both in the wild and in nursery, are described. Samples were collected from Parque Estadual de Carlos Botelho-SP (24º44' - 24º03'S and 47º46' - 48º10'W). C. moschata has a different seedling development pattern from the others with elongated cotyledonary petioles, connate to the hypocotylar region; absence of cataphylls and twist in the hypocotylar region; and the emission of a pair of simultaneous eophylls. O. catharinensis and E. paniculata seedlings have a simultaneous emission of three to five spirally arranged eophylls, on average. In the wild, seedlings of C. moschata were characterized by long periods of latency till the arising of gaps or increased incidence of light, which is evidenced by the lack of juveniles in understore conditions. Seedlings of O. catharinensis established in shade, regardless of the presence of gaps for their development, presenting several juveniles in understore. For E. paniculata, there was evidence that this species presented high plasticity, developing in shade as well as in full luminosity conditions, in border areas or large gaps, possibly being a colonizer of disturbed areas.
Seedlings; Cryptocarya moschata; Ocotea catharinensis; Endlicheria paniculata