‘Faveira’ (Dimorphandra gardneriana Tul.) is a medicinal plant of great commercial value, primarily due to its ability to produce rutin on a global scale. Furthermore, it serves as a source of raw materials for the extraction of other secondary metabolites. With this, this study aimed to standardize the methodology of the tetrazolium test and evaluate its applicability in estimating the viability of seeds from different parent plants of faveira. The viability and vigor of the seeds were determined using tetrazolium (2, 3, 5-triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride) in four concentrations (0.025, 0.050, 0.075, and 0.1%) and four immersion periods: 30, 60, 90, and 120 min, with the viability percentage and vigor levels being considered according to the topological staining pattern. Germination and seedling emergence tests were also conducted. The most suitable preparation for D. gardneriana seeds is preconditioning for 78 hours at 25 °C, followed by cutting in the region opposite the embryo. The tetrazolium test efficiently assesses the viability and vigor of D. gardneriana seeds, whose ideal seed color is obtained using a 0.075% tetrazolium solution for 120 min at 40 °C. In 20 parent plants, the seeds from the parent plants 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 12, and 13 stood out as the most vigorous.

Crateva tapia L. is a native tree species of the Caatinga biome, with medicinal and allelopathic properties. This study aimed to characterize the biometric and morphological traits of fruits, seeds, seedlings, and young plants of C. tapia, as well as to evaluate the germination pattern of its seeds under different temperatures, in order to understand the reproductive strategies and optimal conditions for its propagation. The results are intended to support conservation efforts, ecological restoration, and the sustainable use of the species within the Caatinga biome. The research was carried out at the Seed Analysis Laboratory of the Federal University of Paraíba, Campus II, Areia–PB, Brazil. The biometric data were obtained from 100 fruits and 100 seeds obtained from eight mother plants. The imbibition curve was determined from the weight of the seeds during 216 h at different temperatures, and the germination test was performed concomitantly. The fruits were morphologically described regarding the external and internal aspects of the pericarp. The seeds were described according to their consistency, color, texture, shape, hilum, and embryo. The fruits of C. tapia vary in size, fresh mass, and number of seeds, characterized as amphisarcidium, indehiscent, and polyspermic. The seeds are small, brown, reniform, and biting, with a cotyledonary embryo with a poorly differentiated hypocotyl–radicle axis, with a well-developed hilum and surrounded by a fleshy mesocarp. The germination of C. tapia seeds is epigeal-phanerocotyledonous; the seedlings have white axial roots containing absorbent hairs.