WHERE THE TREE GETS ITS START 
This ungerminated coconut has been cut open lengthwise tc show the embryo, which lies in 
a small cavity in the meat, at the stem énd of the nut. 
When germination begins the 
embryo grows at both ends: outward to form the young plant and inward to fill the central 
cavity and digest the milk and endosperm, thereby supplying nourishment for the growth 
of the plant. 
of its roots, may be described as a self- 
potted plant. So well adapted for this 
purpose is the coconut fiber that it 
is in general use by gardeners in Europe 
and America as a medium for the 
germination of delicate seeds, or as an 
ingredient of fine potting soil. 
GROWTH OF THE EMBRYO 
The use of the husk is still better 
appreciated when we take into account 
the remarkable processes that go on 
inside the shell of the germinating 
coconut. In spite of the huge size of 
the other parts of the seed, the embryo 
or young plant that exists before germi- 
nation begins is hardly larger than the 
proverbial grain of mustard-seed. It is 
cylindrical in form and hes in a small 
cavity in the endosperm just under- 
neath the largest of the three “eyes” 
of the shell. There is no direct connec- 
tion between the embryo and the 
stored food material, or between the 
embryo and the ‘“‘milk”’ in the central 
cavity. (See Fig. 3.) In order to 
152 
Photograph magnified about 2% times. 
3 (Fig. 3.) 
utilize these food supplies, the embryo 
has to take them over by slow processes 
of digestion and absorption. 
When germination begins the embryo 
elongates and becomes enlarged at both 
ends. From the outer end arise the 
plumule and the roots, while the internal 
growth results in the formation of a 
large bulbous mass of spongy tissue, 
pure white in color, with many grooves 
and narrow ridges running lengthwise 
on the surface. 
All through this spongy mass, techni- 
cally the cotyledon, are ramifications of 
vascular strands, which converge and 
become fibrous and woody at the narrow 
“neck”? which connects the absorbing 
tissue with the stem. (See Fig. 6.) 
That the surface of some of these 
cotyledons is distinctly rougher and 
more irregular than others can be seen 
in Figs. 4 and 5. In Fig. 2 the wrinkles 
are narrow, parallel ridges, while Fig. 5 
shows the wrinkles broader and distinctly 
irregular. Differences in the general 
shape of these organs are also apparent, 
