[Objective] The research aimed at investigating the variation in morpho-physiological characteristics of Ceratoides arborescens seeds from Inner Mongolia grassland.[Method] The seeds of six wild C.arborescens populations were collected from Siwangziqi,Xilinhaote,Keshiketengqi and Wengniuteqi in Inner Mongolia grassland;then a total of eight indicators of seed morphology and germination traits were determined,respectively.[Result] There was wide variation in seed traits among different populations of C.arborescens.The variation within the populations was higher than that among the populations,which meant that C.arborescens had a strong adaptability to environment pressure.The seed traits shared a significant positive correlation with each other（r0.931,P0.01）.The three germination-related indices including seed germination rate,germination index,vitality index had significant positive correlations with each other（r 0.836,P0.01）and with seed setting rate（r0.896,P0.01）,but shared weak correlations with morphological traits.There were significant correlations between pappus length and longitude,rainfall,as well as between seed width and temperature,rainfall（r0.801,P0.01）.[Conclusion] The research will provide reference for the seed breeding and collection of germplasm resource.We suggest that collecting seeds from various individuals from each populations will be the preferred strategy to initiate plant improvement program of the species and for gene conservation in seed banks.
