Plukenetia volubilis L. is a species that needs improvement to make commercial exploitation feasible, especially with regard to the seed quality. For this purpose, populations with rapid and uniform germination, followed by prompt seedling emergence are highly desirable for seedling production. The objectives were to study and estimate genetic parameters in germination and emergence tests of P. volubilis seedlings and describe the type of seed germination. Two experiments were carried out in the nursery in two seasons: in the Amazonian winter (December 2011 - January 2012) and summer (July-August 2012), evaluating 25 progenies per experiment, in a completely randomized design. The studied traits were: seedling emergence from seedling emergence from substrate (E), first emergence count (IE), emergence speed index (ESI), stem diameter (StD), hypocotyl length (HL) and shoot length (SL). Individual and combined variance analysis and the Scott Knott test were performed and genetic parameters estimated. The seedlings emerged between 19-41 days and 25-42 days in the Amazonian winter and summer, respectively. Estimates of broad-sense heritability in the analysis ranged from 9.980 (E) to 26.880 (IE). The germination of P. volubilis is classified as phanerocotylar-epigeal. Significant genetic variability for the traits E, GSI, SL, StD and HL was stated in the mother plants, indicating the possibility of selecting progenies with better seed and seedling quality.