154 



FIOWER-LAND. 



they may, then the testa becomes hard, or tough, or 

 hairy, &c., that it may protect the little plant inside it. 



So now split some of these seeds in half. Perhaps 

 you cannot see anything very distinctly, only a whitish 

 mass ; but you know that this substance of the seed 

 is a store of food for the embryo, or little plant, which 

 is embedded in it (p. 134). If you do not quite 

 remember about the embryo, we will turn back and 

 read again about its radicle and plumule (p. 65, 71), 

 and its seed leaves, either one or two (p. 33). These 

 seed leaves are called cotyledons* Sometimes they 

 are large and fleshy, take up all the store of food into 

 themselves, and fill up the testa, as in the bean 

 (Fig. 135,) or almond (Fig. 136, C.) But in Fig. 



Fig. 136. Sections of ripe seeds. A, nux vomica ; B, piper; 

 C> almond ; s t testa ; e, embryo ; w, its radicle ; c, cotyle- 

 dons. For E and /*, see note.f 



136, A and B> you see pictures of seeds cut in 

 half, in which the cotyledons remain small, and the 

 whole embryo is surrounded by its food, which fills 

 up the rest of the testa, t 



*From the Greek, " kotyledon," a hollow like a cup ; from " kotyle," 

 a cup. 



f Cf. Appendix. Endosperm, perisperm. 



