Acacia polyphylla (Mimosaceae) is a native tree species in Brazil, important for restoration of degraded areas. Seeds of this species were stored under both natural and artificial conditions, to evaluate the seed longevity in soil, conserve the seed physiological quality for two years and verify the photoblastic requirement of stored seeds. Under natural conditions, seeds were buried in light gap and under both thin and closed canopies. Under these conditions, fast deterioration was found and seeds were unable to compose the soil seed bank. Under artificial conditions, seeds were packaged in different containers and stored at both room temperature and in a cold chamber for two years. Periodically, seeds were incubated at 25ºC in darkness and under an eight hours photoperiod of both white light (high red-far red ratio) and shade light (low red-far red ratio). During the storage period, germination in darkness was lower than under either white or shade lights. Physiological quality was maintained for two years when seeds were packaged in an impermeable container and stored in a cold chamber. Germinative behaviour of the seeds stored for two years was compared with that of the fresh seeds, at both constant and alternating temperatures, and no effect of either seed age or temperature regime on the photoblastic requirement of the seeds was detected.
tree seed; longevity; germination; light; temperature
