•Germination rate of ormosia henryi seed was affected by both soil nutrients and spermosphere bacterial diversity and abundance.•Most of the spermosphere bacteria that contribute most to the germination stage of ormosia henryi seed have degradation function.•The spermosphere bacteria functions of respiratory metabolism, nodulation, polysaccharide and fat degradation were enhanced during germination.•The positive correlation between the abundance of spermosphere bacterial genera was the highest at the imbibition stage for sufficient carbon source. Based on the important role of spermosphere microbes in seed germination, the driving factors of seed germination were explored under the influence of spermosphere bacteria by studying the time series changes of spermosphere bacterial communities in different germination stages of Ormosia henryi seeds. In this study, the soils under the mother trees of O. henryi in three places (Guanling, Qinglong, Shiqian in Guizhou, China) were used as the seed germination substrates to determine the spermosphere bacterial samples in different germination stages of Ormosia henryi seeds, and bioinformatics strategies were used to analyze bacterial diversity and its relationship with soil nutrients and germination rate, bacterial function prediction and microbial network characteristics. The results showed that seed germination rate of O. henryi was affected by both soil nutrients and abundance and species of spermosphere bacteria, most of the spermosphere bacteria that contributed the most to seed germination time had the functions of degradation and bioremediation. The spermosphere bacterial functions of respiratory metabolism, nodulation, degradation and energy were enhanced during seed germination. The spermosphere bacterial community reached a more stable state under the influence of germinating seeds during the stage of imbibition. This study revealed the contribution of spermosphere bacteria function, abundance and species to the germination rate and germination stage of O.henryi, providing a theoretical basis for screening and application of spermosphere functional bacteria. Display omitted