Resumo. On this paper, the phenology and morphology as well as physical and physiological tests werecarried out with seeds of Cordia trichotoma (Vell.) Arráb. ex Steud. The collection of botanical material and phenological observations were performed on five selected trees located in Frederico Westphalen, Rio Grande do Sul state, from March 2007 to March 2010. The work was conducted under laboratory andgreenhouse conditions at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul state. For threeyears, the bloom was most intense from March to April and the fruiting from May to June. The species hasinflorescence, paniculate, consisting of small white colored and hermaphrodite flowers. Thefruit is simple drupaceous, terminated by the corolla tube and by the persistent calyx. The seed is cylindrical, ellipsoidal,pale brown exalbuminous, cotyledonary embryo with baseline, and invaginated plicatecotyledons, trapped around the root hypocotyl axis. The germination is epigeal and the seedling phanerocotyledonal. Seeds are recalcitrant and the average number was 24,591 per kilogram, the seed moisture content was 51 %, the germination was 40 % and the emergence was 29 %. The germination index is oscillating comparing theresults of this paper to others, probably due to seed quality, which varies according to each parent tree andits micro-habitat. Therefore, there is importance in the selection of individuals, noticing the features that will bring genetic and physiological representation of the species, thus increasing the homogeneity of the seed lot.