SEEDS AND FRUITS 161 



sperm, about as it would be done in the 

 human stomach. The fluid thus ob- 

 tained is conveyed back into the young 

 plant and serves as food. The endo- 

 sperm may be seen to be thinner where 

 the absorbing organ has touched it. 

 The amount of food furnished by the 

 endosperm is so great that the plantlet 

 may be nourished many months from it 

 alone, and generally it is entirely con- 

 sumed, remaining sweet and sound as 

 long as a trace is present. 

 The outer end of the cylindrical part of the 

 embryo contains the plumule, or young 

 shoot of the plant, and the root, which 

 pushes through the eye, breaking the thin 

 layer of the shell at that point, when 

 the plumule, a conical mass of firm 

 leaves, bores upward through the fibres of 

 the husk. When light is reached, green 

 leaves are formed. 



The main root goes downward, send- 

 ing out branches which break through 

 the husk at various points, finally pene- 

 trating; the soil. If the fruits have been 



