This is a report of a study on seed dormancy. The species used for this purpose was Styzolobium atterrimum the seeds of which are known to have a water impermeable seed coat. The hipothesis under test was that the degree or depth of seed dormancy would be linked to plant characteristics such as seed size, seed position in the pod and pod position in the raceme. The testing of this hypothesis took place after the identification of four seed size classes (small, medium-small, mediumlarge and large), 7 positions of the seeds in the pod (from which only 4 produced a sufficient number of seeds) and 3 positions of the pod in the raceme designated as lower third, medium third and upper third. The depth of seed dormancy was evaluated through a germination test, which lasted for 45 days. At the end of this period the seed which remained firm and ungerminated were counted and the obtained values were transformed in percentage and thus obtained the degree of seed dormancy. The analysis of the data showed that the hypothesis was partly true: seed size and pod position in the raceme are factors that exhibit a significant and sequential inf1uence on the degree of seed dormancy: the smaller the seed, the deeper its degree of dormancy; pods developing at progressive distances from the proximal end of the raceme will exhibit seeds with increasing degree of dormancy. Seed position in the pod was found to be a factor capable of exerting a significant but erratic influence on seed depth of dormancy. The quantification of the influence exerted by those factors showed the following decreasing order: seed size, pod position in the raceme and seed position in the pod.