The Elements of Botany, For Beginners and For Schools

by Asa Gray

Fig. 420. Seed of a Violet (anatropous): a, hilum; b, rhaphe; c, chalaza.

Fig. 421. Seed of a Larkspur (also anatropous); the parts lettered as in the last.

Fig. 422. The same, cut through lengthwise: a, the hilum; c, chalaza; d, outer seed coat; e, inner seed-coat; f, the albumen; g, the minute embryo.

Fig. 423. Seed of a St. John's-wort, divided lengthwise; here the whole kernel is embryo.

[386.] The Kernel, or Nucleus, is the whole body of the seed within the coats. In many seeds the kernel is all Embryo; in others a large part of it is the Albumen. For example, in Fig. [423], it is wholly embryo; in Fig. [422], all but the small speck (g) is albumen.

[387.] The Albumen or Endosperm of the seed is sufficiently characterized and its office explained in Sect. III., [31-35].

[388.] The Embryo or Germ, which is the rudimentary plantlet and the final result of blossoming, and its development in germination have been extensively illustrated in Sections [II.] and [III.] Its essential parts are the Radicle and the Cotyledons.