The potential to generate new roots and even whole plants even after the removal of most of their reserves is a typical characteristic of monoembryonic seeds of species of the genus Eugenia. Previous studies have shown that seeds of Eugenia can produce seedlings even with only ¼ of their mass, including seeds at the initial stages of maturity or seeds already in germination. This could be an important ecologically strategy for ensuring propagation of Eugenia species since they would be able to develop serial seedlings from the same seed, depending on environmental conditions, but this has not yet been evaluated. In this study, seeds of E. candolleana at four maturity stages were cut longitudinally or transversally, and they maintained high germination percentages and production of normal seedlings. In a second experiment, the first and second seedlings that developed were removed and regeneration capacity was also evaluated. The results showed that it was possible to obtain more than one normal seedling from each seed. They also showed that even after root and shoot removal, regeneration of new roots and seedlings occurred. These characteristics could be understood as evolutionary strategies to ensure natural propagation of this species in an unsuitable environment.

RESUMO Condições ambientais desfavoráveis para a germinação, letais para a maioria das sementes recalcitrantes, podem resultar na morte das primeiras mudas produzidas pelas sementes de Eugenia, mas não impedem a propagação, já que até mesmo frações dessas sementes podem germinar e produzir mudas. Esta poderia ser uma estratégia evolutiva importante e interessante para a sobrevivência das espécies e esse foi o objetivo desta pesquisa. Sementes de Eugenia foram colocadas para germinar e eliminou-se até a terceira raiz e/ou plântula desenvolvidas, colocando-se o tecido remanescente para germinar novamente. As sementes foram capazes de produzir novas raízes e plântulas após a remoção até da terceira raiz ou plântula produzida, mesmo quando metade da semente foi inicialmente removida. Isso confirma a regenerabilidade como uma estratégia evolucionária importante que pode ter contribuído para perpetuar as espécies de Eugenia.