Seed is the basic input, so requirements of physiological quality to guarantee the establishment of cultivations with high productivity is essential. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of methods to separate the seeds at levels of vigour being used to it, four seed lots Amburana cearensis (Allemao) AC Smith (cumaru). In four lots of A. cearensis seeds were evaluated water content, weight of 1000 seeds, germination, field seedling emergence, index of germination speed and index emergence speed, and length and dry mass of seedlings from both the laboratory and from the field. The weight of 1000 seeds did not allowed the separation of the lots in vigor levels. Field tests (seedling emergence, first count, speed emergence index, length and dry mass of the seedlings) are efficient in the separation of the seed lots of A. cearensis in vigor levels.