Abstract: Pinus dabeshanensis Cheng et Law is a rare species endemic to China with low seed germination rate and difficult natural regeneration in the wild. In order to comprehend its characteristics, seeds of Pinus dabeshanensis were measured and statistically analyzed and compare with other common pine species in this paper. Its episperm was removed to inquire into its inhibitory effect on germination. And 3 different plant growth regulators, gibberellin (GA3), indole acetic acid (IAA), 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) were used to set the orthogonal experiment to explore the role of hormone species, concentration and treatment time in the seed germination of Pinus dabeshanensis. The results showed that: (1) Pinus dabeshanensis seeds was large with the thousand seed weight was 313.19 g; the percentage of kernel was 36.33% . It had a thick episperm of about 0.60 mm and ratio of which was 54.33% . (2) Due to the mechanical barrier effect of episperm, the seeds without removing them were hard to germinate, making it one of the limiting factors of seed germination. (3) GA3, IAA, 2,4-D could both promote the germination of seeds with no significant difference among them. Synthetically considering, the optimal treatment to promote seed germination of Pinus dabeshanensis were: removing episperms,immersing seeds in 0.2 mg/L of GA3 for 12 h.