There are some whose seeds are not to be distinguished, and are known as Acotyledonous, or without cotyledons. Can you not name one?
I don’t know, unless you mean such as the Ferns, the Mosses, and the Lichens on the rocks or decaying timber.
They are the very ones. We have now had examples of the three great varieties of vegetation; Monocotyledonous, having one lobe to the seed; Dicotyledonous, having two lobes; and Acotyledonous, without any.
Will you now, dear father, explain the way in which the Monocotyledonous plants differ from the Dicotyledonous, especially in their system of growth?
I will, my boy, and we will begin this time with the seed.
Any one can tell where the plumula and rostellum of the Cocoa-nut proceed, for we can see the two places in the shell, one at the top and the other at the bottom. But do tell me what the white of the Cocoa-nut is?
That sweet substance is the Albumen, to nourish the young embryo inside. In most Monocotyledonous seeds, there is a lot of this albumen—which is thus chemically changed to suit for food. In the Date Palm this store-house is very hard, as you well know.
Is the Embryo different from others?
In general it is like an undivided cylinder, but in Grass and Corn, it is a flat plate.
What! is Corn like the Palm, father?