Endosperm
Definition
The nutritive tissue inside many seeds, surrounding or adjacent to the embryo. Its presence, consistency (starchy, oily, ruminate), and extent are used alongside testa characters to identify fragmented seeds.
- Location
- Nutritive tissue inside many seeds
- Texture types
- Starchy, oily, ruminate
- Used with
- Testa (seed coat) characters
Common questions
Why is endosperm useful when only seed fragments are recovered?+
Its texture and internal pattern, such as ruminate endosperm or oil content, can survive fragmentation and, combined with testa features, narrow identification even when the whole seed is not intact.
Does every seed contain endosperm?+
No. Some plant families consume the endosperm during embryo development, so its absence or reduction is itself a diagnostic character used to identify certain seed groups.
Related terms
- Cuticle
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- Diaspore
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- Hilum
- The scar on a seed where it was attached to the funiculus inside the fruit. Shape, size, and position of the hilum...
- Testa
- The seed coat, derived from the integuments of the ovule. Its surface sculpture (smooth, reticulate, foveolate, echinate, and so on) is a...
- Venation
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