mination of the seeds was tested by sand culture method．Results showed that tea seeds had 70％ germination rate even when the water content was lowered to 2.3％．No damage was observed to the germination of tea seeds when the water content in tea seeds were lowered to 8％—10％ and kept for 2 months under －196℃．According to this investigation，tea seeds should not be classified into the recalcitrant type，as most botanists believed．Tea seeds should be classified as normal type seeds．This result will direct us to further investigate the storage technique of tea seeds．The problem for long-term storage of tea seeds will be solved．Key words：Tea seed　Storage character　Ultra low temperature storage　Desiccation 0　前言

　　贮藏种子，是保存作物种质资源的重要方法之一。然而，茶树的种子却不易长期保存，即使贮藏得当，其发芽率也只能维持一年左右［1，2］，无怪乎长