Page:Elementary Botany.pdf/11

 The testa encloses:—

(2) the embryo or young plant. The embryo in this case consists of:—
 * (a) two thick fleshy leaves called cotyledons which contain nourishment for the young seedling;


 * (b) a young radicle, which forms the first root


 * (c) the plumule or first bud.

Germination.—Allow bean seeds to germinate in damp soil or on cotton-wool (fig. 3). The radicle bursts the testa, grows downwards giving off root branches from its sides; the plumule grows upwards from between the cotyledons, and forms the first stem bearing foliage leaves. The cotyledongs remain below the soil, feeding the growing plantlet on the food whichy they contain, and finally they shrivel up.

* Maize or Indian Corn.—A grain of Indian corn is not merely a seed, but what is termed a fruit, the outer covering or skin being the testa and the wall of the fruit combined. On examining a grain (fig. 4), a whitish portion is observed near the base,