THE PALM FAMILY 



141 



a three-celled pistil, but the petals are broad, and increase with 

 the growth of the egg-shaped ovarj, forming a large, cup-shaped 

 base for»th« ripe nut. 



6. The Fruit is a drupe. Its covering is twofold, — a fibrous 

 mass outside, the exocarp, and a shell as hard as stone in the 

 interior, the endocarp. Break the latter and you will get the 

 kernel, which is the seed, formed like a hollow ball, and containing 

 the minute embryo in its pulp and a milky substance in its cavity. 



--M. 



Pig. 127. — The Cocoanut with part of the fibrous covering removed. To the right 

 the shell or endocarp (S.) opened, showing the kernel {K.), the embryo (E.) and 



the milk {M.). 



The pulj) and the milk, the endosperm of the seed, form tJie first 

 nourishment of the seedling. 



But the very tender seed-bud is evidently too weak to push 

 itself through the hard shell. Hence that part of the shell which 

 is immediately over the embryo or germ is so thin that it can 

 -easily be pierced by the tender sprout. Of the three carpels, of 

 which the ovary is composed, only one develops and forms a 

 germ, and we see the traces of the other two in the two other 

 hard eyes which every cocoanut possesses. Moreover, the germ, 

 .and with it these holes in the shell, are always at that end of 



