Vivipary refers to the phenomenon that sexually produced embryos germinating on the maternal tree, the most famous case is in mangrove Rhizophoraceae. We explored the genetic mechanism of mangrove vivipary in Kandelia obovate through transcriptome analysis of 30 samples of seed coat and embryo in 4 critical developmental stages. Data were generated and provided by Dr. Qingshun Quinn Li's Lab in College of Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University, China.