EXERCISE 58 

 STRUCTURE OF A SEED 



Materials. Seeds of bean or peanut; blotting paper or filter 

 paper ; dish with cover. 



Directions for work. Soak some seeds in water for twenty- 

 four hours. Remove the seed coatings from the seeds and 

 attempt to find in the seeds the parts that were recognized in 

 the seedling plant. Do you find the cotyledons ? Describe them. 

 Look for the hypocotyl ; for the plumule. Examine the plumule 

 with a magnifier or with the low power of the microscope to 

 determine whether the first pair of leaves is already present in 

 the plumule. 



When you have satisfied yourself that you have identified in 

 the seed the part from which each of the organs of the young 

 plant develops, make a diagram representing an ideal vertical 

 section through the seed from end to end, showing the hypocotyl, 

 plumule, and cotyledons in proper relation to each other. 



References 



BERGEN and CALDWELL. Practical Botany, pp. 136-137. 

 BERGEN and CALDWELL. Introduction to Botany, pp.- 156160. 



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