Baobab seeds (Adansonia digitata) have very hard seed coats and germination is usually under 20%. Treatment with concentrated sulphuric acid for six to twelve hours led to germination of more than 90% of the seeds within twenty days of sowing. Manual scarification (removal of a small fragment of integument) hastened germination, which was completed in six to eight days. However,this method could result in rapid imbibition of the seeds which led to the necrosis of 10 to 25% of the embryo. Boiling water treatment gave variable results depending on the seedlots used, while soaking in cold water was generally ineffective and was sometimes harmful after manual scarification.