Displaying 1 - 60 out of 69 Object(s)
| Term | Definition | |
|---|---|---|
| Albumen | General term for the nutritive tissue of the seed located between the embryo and seed coat. | |
| Albuminate (albuminous) | With albumen | |
| Anisocotylous | Referring to seedlings in which the cotyledons differ in shape and/or size. | |
| Aril (arillate) | A fleshy covering or appendage of a seed derived from the funicle. |  |
| Arillode | A false aril derived from the integument (seed coat) but not from the funicle as is a true aril; in practice any outgrowth of the seed for which the origin has not been established. | |
| Arilloid | An aril-like structure associated with a seed. | |
| Basal aril | An aril located at the base of the seed. |  |
| Basal-lateral aril | An aril starting at the base and extending part way up the side of the seed. |  |
| Caruncle | An appendage or outgrowth at the point of attachment of the seed to the funicle. Compare with aril. |  |
| Carunculate | Possessing a caruncle. Compare with strophiole. | |
| Cellular endosperm | A type of endosperm development in which cell walls develop starting with the first cell division. | |
| Chalaza | The part of an ovule or seed opposite the micropyle. In this part of the embryo sac the integument(s) are not differentiated from the nucellus.. |  |
| Circumferentially winged seed | A wing completely surrounding the circumference of the seed. |  |
| Coma (Comose) | Referring to a structure, such as a seed, the bears tufts of hairs. Wind-dispersed seeds are often comose. |  |
| Cotyledon | The leaves (one in monocots and two in dicots) of an embryo that often emerge when the seed germinates. Some cotyledons, however, remain within the seed coat. |  |
| Cotyledons | Seed leaves, i.e., the embryonic leaves. |  |
| Cotyledons absent | A massive embryo that shows no obvious cotyledons |  |
| Cotyledons arched | Cotyledons that are bowed in such a way that there is an air space between which is usually an adaptation for water dispersal. |  |
| Cotyledons carnose | Cotyledons thick and providing nutrition to the developing embryo and seedling. When the cotyledons are carnose in the Sapotaceae endosperm is usually lacking. Same as cotyledons fleshy. |  |
| Cotyledons cryptocotylar | A type of seed germination in which the cotyledons remain within the seed coat at germination. Compare with phanerocotylar. |  |
| Cotyledons epigeal | At germination the cotyledons emerge from the seed coat above the ground. |  |
| Cotyledons fleshy | Cotyledons very thick, not leaf-like; e.g., the cotyledons of a bean. | |
| Cotyledons foliaceous (=cotyledons leaf-like) | Referring to cotyledons that are not carnose but instead are thin and leaf-like. In the Sapotaceae, species with foliaceous cotyledons generall have endosperm. |  |
| Cotyledons leaf-like | Cotyledons that look like leaves. |  |
| Elaiosome | A fleshy, oily outgrowth of the seed coat that often attracts ants for dispersing the seeds. Compare with aril and sarcotesta. |  |
| Embryo | The young sporophytic plant found inside of the seed. |  |
| Embryo sac | The female gametophyte of angiosperms (flowering plants). Same as megagametophyte. |  |
| Embryotega | A small circular thickening near the seed scar on the seeds of some plants; e.g., Commelinaceae. | |
| Endosperm | The energy-rich food supply of the seed that is formed by the fusion of the sperm and polar nuclei of the female gametophyte, initially surrounds the embryo, and is often apparent in the seed; some seeds, however, do not have any apparent endosperm. |  |
| Eophyll | The first true leaf of a seedling; i.e., the first leaf to appear after the cotyledon(s). | |
| Epicotyl | That part of the main axis of an embryo or the young stem of a seedling located above the point of attachment of the cotyledons. The epicotyl gives rise to the leaves, the first of which are called eophylls. | |
| Epigeal germination | Referring to a type of seed germination in which the cotyledons are held at or above the ground. Compare with hypogeal. | |
| Eugenioid embryo | A type of embryo found in the Myrtaceae in which the cotyledons are thick, separate, and plano-convex (like those of a bean) and the hypocotyl is a short protrusion, or the cotyledons are fused partially or completely into a single mass and the hypocotyl is not distinguishable. Compare with myrcioid embryo and myrtoid embryo. |  |
| Exalbuminous | Without albumen. | |
| Exostome | That part of the seed coat surrounding the micropyle. | |
| Germinate | Emerge from a dormant state, e.g., when a seed emerges from the seed coat and develops into a seedling. | |
| Grain | See caryopsis. | |
| Helobial endosperm | A type of endosperm in which two unequal cells develop differently, the larger one in a noncellular manner (see nuclear endosperm) and the smaller one in various ways. | |
| Hilum (hilar) | A scar on the seed indicating where the funicle was attached. |  |
| Hypocotyl | The part of the main axis of a seed embryo or a very young seedling found below the cotyledonary node. | |
| Hypogeal germination | A type of seed germination in which the cotyledons are retained below the ground. | |
| Isocotylous | Referring to seedlings in which both cotyledons are similar in shape and size. Compare with anisocotylous. | |
| Lateral aril | An aril that runs along the side of the seed such as in many, but not all, species of |
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| Macropodial embryo | A solid embryo without differentiated cotyledons; e.g., in Lecythis spp. (Lecythidaceae) and Monstera spp. (Araceae). | |
| Myrcioid embryo | A type of embryo found in the Myrtaceae in which the cotyledons are normally thin, leafy, and folded, and the narrow, cylindrical hypocotyl is about the same length as the cotyledons and encircling them. Compare with eugenioid embryo and myrtoid embryo. | |
| Myrtoid embryo | A variable type of embryo found in the Myrtaceae in which the hypocotyl is the same length or much longer than the cotyledons; in genera with hard seed coats, the embryo is C-shaped; in genera with membranous or submembranous seed coats, the hypocotyl often is greatly swollen, and sometimes the whole embryo forms a spiral. Compare with eugenioid embryo and myrcioid embryo. | |
| Pachytesta | A seed coat formed mostly by the extended chalaza and not by the integument(s); note that the integument(s) can be reduced or developed in species with a pachytesta. | |
| Perisperm | Food-storage tissue derived from the nucellus of some flowering plants. | |
| Phanerocotylar cotyledons | A type of seed germination in which the cotyledons emerge from the seed coat. Compare with cryptocotylar. | |
| Phytomelan | A carbonaceous, opaque material that usually covers the seed coat to give it a black appearance, common in certain monocot families. | |
| Pleurogram | A line or crack, sometimes shaped like a horseshoe, found on the lateral faces of the seed coat of some legumes. | |
| Plumule | The upper portion of the embryo that develops into the primary shoot. | |
| Pseudaril | In Burseraceae, soft aril-like tissue that covers part or all of the pyrene and attracts dispersal agents. |  |
| Radicle | The lower portion of the embryo that develops into the root. Same as hypocotyl. | |
| Ruminate endosperm | Testa or seed coat folded into the endosperm; e.g., that of many species of Annonaceae, Myristicaceae, and Arecaceae. | |
| Sarcopachytesta | The fleshy outer layer of a pachytesta. See pachytesta. | |
| Sarcotesta | A layer arising from the integument of a seed. Compare with aril and elaiosome. |  |
| Seed | The mature ovule that contains the embryo within the seed coat. | |
| Seed coat (= testa) | The outer covering of a seed. Same as testa. |  |
| Seedling | Referring to a stage in a plant's development between seed germination and the production of eophylls (= the first true leaves). | |