The achachairu (Garcinia sp), a fruit widely grown in Bolivia, has been commercialized in Brazil for many years. The fruit is globular-oblong shaped, with a white succulent pulp, mucilaginous texture and a well balanced sweet-acid flavor (ºBrix 15; pH 4.1). Due to the increasing interest in its cultivation in Brazil, this work was carried out aiming to study the seeds germination and seedling development throughout the first 12 months after seed emergence. The seeds, after being extracted from full ripe fruits were placed in a B.O.D. type chamber, under the following temperatures: 25, 30, 20-30 ºC, as well as under room temperature (25±2 ºC). The best result was given by the steady temperature of 30ºC, with a germination of 92% and a germination speed index (GSI) of 0,255. At room temperature, seeds germination was low (30%), with a GSI of 0,015. Seedling development at greenhouse conditions was very slow mainly throughout the first weeks post emergence. The first pair of leaves appeared 25 days after seedling emergence, when seedlings averaged 8cm. From the eighth month on, many lateral branches were burst out, from the seedling medial portion towards the apical one.
fruit tree; propagation; Clusiaceae; Garcinia sp
