Seed morphology, germination and seedlings growth of Acacia auriculiformis were studied. The experiment was conducted in the nursery of Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Bangladesh. Matured seeds of the species were collected from healthy trees of road side plantation from different areas of Khulna District, Bangladesh and treated with five pre-sowing treatments (control, immersion in cold water, immersion in hot water, scarification with sand paper and immersion in concentrated H 2 SO 4 ). The average length, breadth and thickness were found to be (0.58±0.017) cm, (0.44±0.007) cm and (0.20±0.089) cm, respectively. Germination was conducted in polybags with a mixture of top soil, coconut husk, coarse sand, and fine sand in a ratio of 3:4:1:1. Results reveal that pre-sowing treatments influences the germination rates of seeds that significantly increase the percentage germination compared with those in control (43%) and cold water treatment (52%). The highest germination success rate was found 83% in hot water treatment followed by 78% in scarification with sand paper, and 75% with immersion in H 2 SO 4 . Germination started from 7 to 12 days and completed between 28 and 35 days period in all treatments. ANOVA showed the significant difference (p<0.05) among the treatments in seed germination, but no significant difference among treatment with regard to starting day, closing day and total germination period. In case of height and diameter growth, seedlings originated from the seeds with hot water treatment shows significantly higher in wet season (from May to July).Hot water treatment can be recommended on seed germination of the species in rural Bangladesh.

In this paper, seed morphology and effects of pre-sowing treatments were studied. Matured seeds of the species were collected from healthy trees in the National Botanical Garden, Bangladesh, and treated with five presowing treatments. The average length, breadth and thickness were found to be 0.56AE0.03 cm, 0.44AE0.009 cm and 0.26AE0.008 cm in Albizia richardiana King and Prain, and 1.32AE0.02 cm, 0.55AE0.04 cm and 0.11AE0.002 cm in Lagerstroemia speciosa L., respectively. Germination was carried out in polybags with a mixture of topsoil, coconut husk compost, coarse sand and fine sand in a ratio of 3∶4∶1∶1. Results revealed that the germination rates of seeds in different pre-sowing treatments were significantly increased compared to those in cold-water treatment in both species. The highest germination rate was found to be 96% in hot-water treatment followed by 87%, 83% and 49% in treatments with scarification, H 2 SO 4 and control in A. richardiana, respectively. However, the highest germination rate (79%) was found in H 2 SO 4 treatment followed by 64%, 62% and 25% in treatments with hot water, scarification and control in L. speciosa, respectively. The lowest germination (35% in A. richardiana and 20% in L. speciosa) was found in cold-water treatment in both cases. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed the significant difference among the treatments for both species. It is concluded that hot-water treatment is recommended for seed germination of both species in rural Bangladesh.