Resumo. Qualea grandiflora Mart. occurs in riverine forests and in ‘cerrado’ areas, popularly known as ‘pauterra’. With the purpose of obtaining information about the reproductive spread of this species, it was studied the effect of temperature on seed germination capability. The temperatures used were: 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 ºC. The seeds were sown on paper towel in roll form, with four replicates of one experimental unit consisted of a roll with 25 seeds. The experiment followed a completely randomized design with six treatments and four replications. There was primary root emission at temperatures of 15 to 40 ºC. Values between 78 % and 93 % were obtained in a wide range of temperatures between 15 and 35 ºC. A normal seedling occurred in narrower range, between 20 and 35 ºC. The protrusion of the root began on the seventh day after sowing, except the 15 ºC which provided a slow and gradual process, beginning on the fourteenth day after hatching. At 40 ºC, the germination capability was less than 15 % and there was no normal seedling. For the seed germination of ‘pau-terra’, it is recommended that the temperature range between 20 and 30 ºC.