Initial growth of African mahogany plants in response to zinc fertilization

African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis A. Juss) has been an important option to supply the increasing demand for noble forest products for the Brazilian furniture industry. In the present study, the objective was to evaluate the initial development of mahogany plants in response to different doses of zinc. The experiment was carried out inside a greenhouse, in the experimental area of the State University of Goiás, Ipameri Campus, in 7 dm3 plastic containers, and using soil samples, identified as Dystrophic Red-Yellow Latosol (Oxisol), as substrate. The experimental design was completely randomized, with five treatments and five replications, totaling 25 experimental units. The treatments consisted of five Zn concentrations: 0, 2.5, 5, 10 and 20 mg dm-3, obtained by zinc sulfate fertilizer. At 150 days, the measurements of the plant height, the root crown diameter, dry matter mass of leaves, stem, root and total were evaluated. The tested increasing zinc doses did not promote increased plant growth. African mahogany presented low zinc requirement in the early stages of development for the studied edaphoclimatic condition, and no application of zinc via fertilizers was required. This fact may resulting from the natural concentration of 0.2 mg dm-3 of Zn in the used soil, which was enough to supply the nutritional demand of the plants in the first five months of development. Key words: Khaya senegalensis A. Juss, morphology, micronutrient.