802 HOW CROPS GROW. 
borne. The pulse family, or papilionaceous plants, are also 
termed leguminous from the form of their fruit. 
Tue SEED, or ripened ovule, is borne on a stalk which 
connects it with the seed-vessel. Through this stalk it is 
supplied with nutriment while growing. When matured 
and detached, a scar commonly indicates the point of 
former connection. 
The seed has usually two distinct coats or integuments. 
The outer one is often hard, and is generally smooth. In 
the case of cotton-seed it is covered with the valuable cot- 
ton fiber. The second coat is commonly thin and delicate. 
The Kernel lies within the integuments. In many cases 
it consists exclusively of the embryo, or rudimentary 
plant. In others it contains, besides the embryo, what has 
received the name of endosperm. 
The Endosperm forms the chief bulk of all the grains. If 
we cut a seed of maize in two lengthwise, we observe ex- 
tending from the point where it was attached to the cob 
the soft “chit,” 5, fig. 63, which is the embryo, to be pres- 
ently noticed. The remainder of the kernel, a, is endo- 
sperm; the latter, therefore, yields in great part the 
flour or meal which is so important a part of the food of 
man and animals. 
The endosperm is intended for the support of the young 
plant as it developes from the embryo, before it is capable 
of depending on the soil and atmosphere for sustenance. 
It is not, however, an indispensable part of the seed, and 
may be entirely removed from it, without thereby prevent- 
ing the growth of a new plant. 
The Embryo or Germ is the essential and most import- 
ant portion of the seed. It is, in fact, a ready-formed 
plant in miniature, and has its root, stem, leaves, and a 
bud, although these organs are often as undeveloped in 
form as they are in size. 
As above mentioned, the chit of the seeds of maize and 
