That's a question that needs a little shedded light addressed upon.

In the ground right now, absolutely not! Late fall sowing, yes.

You'll need to check the germination requirements at a seed website such as F.W. Shumakers for precise instructions.

If you sowed in in a pot now and brought it indoors into your basement for this entire winter with light, then there's another option. Preferably, it would be better if you kept the seeds in the fridge and followed the advice of germination/stratification to re-itterate.

Here, and I have been growing trees from seed indoors only, I follow the time requirements as well as the cultural requirements so that the seeds are ready to be sown about February indoors. So timing is a big part and its really your question.

The sow now/fulfill 'requirements' ordeal at this time of the year, well, you'll need to check out all pertinent information. Acer griseum and Acer triflorum as an example take up to six months of cold/hot stratification before sowing. So... 'timing' will be your decider.

Dax

Dax- It looks like ltruett can go ahead and plant the seeds after 12 hours of soaking. No pre-treatments needed. This info came from F.W. Shumakers. I don't know if they can handle harsh winter weather outside that young though.

Comments: This seed is de-hulled or removed from the surrounding seed wing. This seed is collected from the Northern range of the species. Does not do well in Southern range sowing as the seed will germinate then just sit and not grow. This occured for growers in TX. A short cold stratification will increase the speed and uniformity of germination. Soak in water at room temperature 12 hours prior to sowing. Indoors media temperature 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit preferred. Seed stored 5 years cold and dry germinated at 45% as a test run. This tree is adaptable to a wide range of conditions. Does well in poor soil, city planting etc. . Wide range of Fall colors. Growth rate responds well to proper cultural practices.
Germination info: Does not require a pre-treatment

I obtained my shantung trees from a bonzai website. They grew fast and strong in the Dallas Texas area - poor clay soil. Two were damaged badly by an F-4 tornado, one other faired better and is now seeding. I am going to do as what my grandfather did for seeds from his vegetable garden. I will put them in my garage without special preparations for the winter. Then I will plant them.