Seeds forests longevity studies is important for management with these species. The tree Cenostigma tocantinum Ducke (pau-pretinho), naturally occurs in Amazonia and lately it has been used for arborization in Manaus city. However, the germination and storage seeds behavior of C. tocantinum is not well known. The present study aimed to evaluate the behavior of seeds of C. tocantinum regarding the dehydration sensitivity. The essay was performed at the Laboratory of Seed Analysis of Embrapa Western Amazonia (Manaus/AM). Seeds were treated in the following drying systems: - chamber with warmed air-forced ventilation (35 oC); - desiccator with silica gel (27 º); - drying at room temperature (27 0C) and exposed for zero; 12; 24; 48; 72 and 96 hours. The experimental delineation was completely randomized, with four replicates and 20 seeds per treatment. The water content in the seeds, as well as the germination ability were measured at every drying interval. Tests showed that the seeds of C. tocantinum, recently harvested, have an initial moisture of 23.4% and a germination ability of 93.75%. After the seeds were dried for 96 h in the warmed air-forced ventilation system, the water content was reduced to 5.8% and the germination rate remains high at 92.5%. Otherwise, in the other drying conditions, the decrease in water content of seeds was not significant. The germination ability of seeds of C. tocantinum was not affect by dehydration, having thus an orthodox behavior.
seeds forests; dehydration; viability
