Abstract: The germination characteristics of Acer pentaphyllum seeds harvested for 1 and 3 years in Yajiang County, Jiulong County, Muli County, Jiulong Sanyagong and Kangding City in Sichuan Province were studied. The results showed that: (1) The seed germination rate of Acer pentaphylla was generally low (between 4.0% and 17.6%) in five regions, among which the seed germination rate in Muli County, Yajiang County and Jiulong County was significantly higher than that in Kangding City and Sanyagong in Jiulong. (2) The seed kernel percentage of Acer pentaphylla harvested for one year in five regions was low (between 36.8% and 45.2%), but there was no significant difference among regions. (3) The embryo viability of Acer pentaphylla seeds harvested for one year in five regions was classified into three categories: high (more than 95% in Jiulong County, Muli County and Kangding City), medium (91.7% in Sanyagong, Jiulong County) and low (53.3% in Yajiang County). (4) The water absorption of Acer pentaphylla seeds can be divided into three stages: rapid water absorption period, slow water absorption stage and stable water absorption stage. (5) The seed germination characteristics of Acer pentaphylla were affected by the storage time. The seeds of Acer pentaphylla harvested for 3 years in Jiulong County and Muli County could not germinate normally, and the seed kernel rate and seed embryo vitality decreased. In conclusion, the differences in seed germination characteristics of Acer pentaphylla from different provenances were related to embryo viability, and the prolongation of storage time would reduce seed embryo viability. In order to improve the success rate of artificial seedling raising of Acer pentaphyllum, it is suggested that the newly harvested seeds should be selected for seedling raising.