MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF FRUITS, SEEDS, PLANTULES AND SEEDLINGS OF BRAZIL WOOD (Caesalpinia echinata LAMARCK)

Studies related to plant morphology with native forest species have been expanded in recent years, given their importance in the taxonomic aspects or for being useful in identifying fruits, seeds, plantules and seedlings in seed testing laboratories, in nurseries to produce seedlings, or in studies that assess the natural regeneration in forest ecosystems. However, given the great diversity of species, it is still not possible to find enough information to support such studies nor collections in herbarium for a large number of native species. This work was carried out to characterize the morphology of fruits, seeds, plantules and seedlings of Brazil wood (Caesalpinia echinata Lam) - Fabaceae, Subfamily Caesalpinioideae). Initially assessments of morphometric and internal and external morphological characteristics of fruits and seeds were performed. Then, there were descriptions of early development of plantules and seedlings. Considering the descriptive analyzes of the studied species, information about fruits, seeds, plantules and seedlings can be safely employed in efforts to identify the species, both in laboratories and nurseries or in field studies on the ecology of this species. Special attention can be given to dry fruit, and the embryo, the epigeal phanerocotylar germination and the presence of aculei in the young stages (plantules and seedlings) are important for species identification. The characters that are common to other species of Fabaceae, Subfamily Caesalpinioideae corroborate the taxonomic importance of morphological characters.