The species Cochlospermum regium is a shrub that disseminates by seed, but with extremely low germination even under ideal conditions, that is a response to physical dormancy imposed by the seed coat. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy of dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) in overcoming dormancy in Cerrado ‘algodãozinho’ seeds compared to other traditional methods, in combination with growth analysis to assess seedling normality. The seeds in experiment I were submitted to the following treatments: (1) control: soaking in distilled water for 24h; (2) mechanical scarification: rubbing with sandpaper for 1min and soaking in distilled water for 24h; (3) acid scarification: immersion in sulphuric acid for 2h followed by soaking in distilled water for 24h; (4) immersion in DMSO at 65°C for 24h followed by soaking in distilled water for 24h; and (5) soaking in distilled water for 24h and immersion in sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), 12% active chlorine, for 5h. The volume of solution used in all treatments was sufficient to completely submerge the seeds. Initial seed moisture content, seed dry mass, germination percentage, and germination speed index (GSI) were measured. In experiment II, seeds were immersed in DMSO at 65°C for 24h followed by soaking in distilled water for 24h or distilled water at 65°C for 24h and evaluated by the standard germination test and GSI. Shortly after germination, seeds from both treatments were transferred to trays containing sand as a substrate for subsequent seedling morphological and growth evaluation. Overall, the results show that mechanical scarification with sandpaper for 1min and seed immersion in DMSO were the best treatments for overcoming dormancy in seeds of C. regium, and DMSO caused no morphological abnormality in the seedlings.