1 Method of Seed Collection and Shading on the Germination of Shorea roxburghii G. Don. * Bolanle – Ojo, O.T., Adio, A.F., Afolabi, J.O., Ojo, P.A., and Akinnate, A.E. Department of Sustainable Forest Management Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, P.M.B. 5054, Jericho Hill, Ibadan, Oyo State. *Email: bolanleojo2012@gmail.com Abstract Seeds of Shorea roxburghii were collected from the premises of Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN). Effect of methods of seed collection and shading was investigated in this study. Both experiments were laid in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with Experiment I having two treatments; collection from the ground after natural fall and the collection from matured seeds on the tree while Experiment II had three treatments which were seeds sown in bed under direct sunlight, bed covered with palm fronds and bed covered with banana leaves. Method of seed collection and shading had significant (p≤0.05) effect on the germination potential of S. roxburghii seeds. It was deduced in this study that S. roxburghii seeds require dense shade for higher germination and seeds collected from the ground after natural fall germinate faster and give higher germination percentage than seeds collected from the tree. Collection and germination of S. roxburghii seeds can be done in the nursery based on the information provided in this study. Introduction Seeds provide the most natural resources of plant reproduction, preservation of genetic variability, transportation, and propagation of flora (Taiz and Zeiger, 2002). Germination, in the strict sense, is the resumption of active growth of the embryo, usually after a state of rest (Bawley and Black, 1994). This eventually results in the breaking of seed coat and the emergence of a young plant. Shorea roxburghii G. Don belongs to the family Dipterocarpaceace. It is a deciduous tree with simple alternate leaves and a very important timber and resin source; the latter is used as a stimulant and for fumigation (Ashton 1963, 1982). This tree species can be found in the southern tropical dry deciduous forests in the Eastern Ghats, India (Chauhan, 1998) and extends its * !"