Erect, when rising upright from the very base of the cell, as in the Buckwheat (Fig. [342]),
Pendulous, when hanging from the side or from near the top, as in the Flax (Fig. [270]), and
Suspended, when hanging perpendicularly from the very summit of the cell, as in the Anemone (Fig. [343]). All these terms equally apply to seeds.
[320.] In structure an ovule is a pulpy mass of tissue, usually with one or two coats or coverings. The following parts are to be noted, viz.—
Kernel or Nucleus, the body of the ovule. In the Mistletoe and some related plants, there is only this nucleus, the coats being wanting.
Teguments, or coats, sometimes only one, more commonly two. When two, one has been called Primine, the other Secundine. It will serve all purposes to call them simply outer and inner ovule coats.
Orifice, or Foramen, an opening through the coats at the organic apex of the ovule. In the seed it is Micropyle.
Chalaza, the place where the coats and the kernel of the ovule blend.
Hilum, the place of junction of the funiculus with the body of the ovule.