212 COMPOUND ORGANS OF PLANTS. 



far as just to' exhibit its component organs, and remaining 

 imbedded in the nutritive matter of the nucleus which is unab- 

 sorbed. The embryo of the Marvel of Peru, (Mirabilis,) of 

 the maize, buckwheat, and the whole of the cerealia con- 

 tinues in this rudimentary condition. 



The albumen, termed by some authors the perisperm, and 

 also the endosperm, when present in the kernel varies in its 

 consistence according to the nature of the deposit and the state 

 of the cells. It consists of a mass of cells without any appear- 

 ance of vessels, which may be thin and dry and contain a great 

 quantity of fecula or starch, as in the corn and the other 

 grasses; or thick and fleshy, containing juices of various kinds, 

 as in the cocoa-nut and EuphorbiaceaB ; or finally, the cells 

 may be of a horny or ligneous nature, as in the coffee and vege- 

 table ivory, (Phytelephas.) The quantity of albumen in seeds 

 depends on the extent to which embryonic development is car- 

 ried. When the embryo is small the albumen is abundant, as in 

 the seed of the monkshood, (Aconitum,) Fig, 105, where e repre- 



Fig. 105. Fig. 106. 



Fig. 106. Vertical section of the achenium of the nettle, (Urtica,) showing the em- 

 bryo nearly filling the achenium, r radicle ; pi plumule ; t testa, or integument. 



sents the embryo. When the embryo is large, as in the nettle, 

 Fig. 106, the albumen is very scarce. In the Labiatae, the 



