(Introduction):

In the last decades, several countries of South America registered intense rainfalls and floods affecting riparian and gallery forests. Yet knowledge of the flooding tolerance of forest species is very limited. (Objective): The aim of this study was to evaluate seeds and seedlings behavior of Luehea divaricata Mart., Parapiptadenia rigida (Benth.) Brenan, and Guibourtia hymenaeifolia (Moric.) J. Léonard subjected to ex situ flooding regimes. (Methods): Seeds of the selected species were immersed in water over 7 different periods. After immersion seeds were sown and their germination percentage and seedlings survival were evaluated for 30 days. (Results): L. divaricata reduced its germination rate during the experiment from 45.9 % to 23.1 %. One fifth of seeds of this species kept the germination capability even after 30 days of the immersion treatment. A visible loss of the germination capability and seedling survival was observed in P. rigida and G. hymenaeifolia when the immersion period exceeded 5 days. (Conclusions): The response of seeds to immersions varied between species, being L. divaricata the species with better tolerance to flooding condition.