302 A TEXTBOOK OF GENERAL BOTANY 
food, or, if the food is stored in the endosperm, as an absorb- 
ing and transferring organ. 
Frequently, as in the grains of the grasses, the cotyledons 
serve as absorbing organs and do not leave the seeds (Fig. 303). 

Fic. 307. Stages in the germination of peanut 
The cotyledons are carried up into the air and the food transferred from them 
to the growing parts of the seedling, while the cotyledons shrivel without 
becoming green. (x 3) 
The tip of the cotyledon of the coconut is modified into an 
absorbing organ which grows so large as to fill the cavity of 
the nut (Fig. 304). 
In some cases in which the seeds contain endosperm (Fig. 305), 
and in others in which they do not (Fig. 306), the cotyledons 
