CHAPTER II 



THE STRUCTURE OF THE SEED 



I QUOTE the following from a work of reference : — 

 " Seed : In Botany, the mature or fecundated ovule. 

 It consists essentially of the young plant or embryo, enclosed 

 in integuments, of which there are two. It varies much 

 in form ; thus it may be rounded, as in the water cress ; 

 reniform, as in the poppy ; obovate, as in the larkspur, etc., 

 similar terms being employed in describing these forms to 

 those applied to like modifications of other organs. The 

 outer integument or seed-coat is termed the testa or episperm. 

 It is usually of a brown or somewhat similar hue, as in the 

 almond ; but it frequently assumes other colours. It 

 varies in texture, being soft, fleshy, membraneous, coriaceous, 

 etc. It is often curiously marked with furrows, ridges, etc., 

 and often furnished with hairs, spines, wings, and other 

 appendages. The inner integument is called the iegmen 

 or endopleura, it is generally of a soft and delicate nature. 

 A third integument, more or less complete, is occasionally 

 found on the surface of the others. The inner portion of 

 the seed, called nucleus or kernel, may either consist of the 

 embr^^o alone, as in the wallflower and the bean, or of the 

 embryo enclosed in albumen or perisperm, as in the pansy. 

 When the nourishing matter called the albumen is present, 

 the seed is said to be albuminous ; when it is absent to be 

 ex-albuminous." 



All dry seeds that I have examined, and they have been 

 many in number, are, broadly speaking, of the same physical 

 structure. This consists of an outer coat of varying thick- 

 ness and density, an inner fibroid lining and a membrane 

 of a lipoid nature completely enclosing the seed substance ; 

 which latter has a certain liquid and generally markedly 

 acid content. 



Some months ago I investigated and reported upon the 



