Structure of a Dicotyledonous Seed: Dicot seeds are those that come from plants in the Dicotyledonae family. These plants have two seed leaves, as opposed to the one seed leaf of monocots. The seeds of Dicot plants usually have some kind of storage organ, such as a seedpod, that helps to protect them and aid in their dispersal.

Structure of a Dicotyledonous Seed

• Peas, almonds and cashews are examples of dicotyledonous or dicot seeds.
• Dicotyledons are also known as dicots. They are the groups into which all the flowering plants or angiosperms were formerly divided. The name dicotyledons refer to the seed having two embryonic cotyledons. There are around 200,000 species of dicotyledons discovered to date.
• In a dicotyledonous seed, the embryo consists of an embryo axis and two cotyledons. Cotyledons generally have a swollen appearance as it acts as a food reserve for the developing seedling. The embryo axis has two ends. The one which forms the shoot tip is called plumule and the portion at the lower end which forms the root tip is called the radicle. The whole content is enclosed within a protective cover called the seed coat. The seed coat is made up of an outer layer called testa and an inner layer called tegmen. Moreover, the seed is attached to the fruit through a structure called hilum.
• Other dicot seeds examples include apples, plums and peaches.

Follow on Facebook

By Team Learning Mantras