The combination of large nutritious pods and seeds with hard coats is ideal for seed dispersal of Enterolobium by animals. Seeds are most easily collected by waiting for pods to fall. Trees produce seed crops in most years in Central America. Seed extraction from the indehiscent pods is usually carried out by manual threshing, milling or maceration of the pods followed by winnowing and screening Enterolobium seed is naturally scarified by passage through the gut of large herbivores. It is likely that the original consumers of Enterolobium pods are now extinct and their role as seed dispersal agents has been assumed by horses and cattle.
Collected seed requires pretreatment before sowing to allow water to penetrate the seed coat.
Manual scarification is effective, as is treatment with hot water or concentrated sulfuric acid. Enterolobium seeds remain viable for several years under cool, dry conditions and can be easily stored under normal conditions. Seed supplies are currently dependent on collections from natural populations in Latin America and scattered cultivated trees in areas where Enterolobium has been introduced. Most early introductions of E. cyclocarpum were undocumented, casual and collected from a narrow genetic base. A broader range of representative germplasm should be tested to evaluate the potential of the species.