In article <259112D8931239E2EC2F054D at biology.semo.edu> ,
dstarret at BIOLOGY.SEMO.EDU (David Starrett) wrote:
> At 09:24 AM 8/10/99 -0500, you wrote:
>>The coconuts sold in stores usually aren't mature. The sloshing you
>>hear, the milk, is liquid endosperm. It's an unusual phenomenon--the
>>endosperm is multi-nuclear but has no cell walls. As the fruit matures,
>>the endosperm solidifies into the "meat" of the coconut. The more milk,
>>the less ripe the nut.
>> Does a mature seed therefore have no milk? I have heard that the endosperm
> solidifies and always wondered why/how a liquid which would settle to the
> bottom coats the inside so uniformly. So, all the meat in a coconut is
> solid endosperm? Why the big hollow space? To make it float? Where is
> the cotyledon? Is there a scutellum-like structure on the embryo? What
> fruit type would a coconut fall under? (not being a true nut).
>> Guess I was luckier than I relalized getting a supermarket coconut to
> germinate.
>>> Dave Starrett
>>> /^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^\
> | Dr. David Starrett, Director |
> | Center for Scholarship in Teaching and Learning |
> | MS 4650, 1 University Plaza |
> | Southeast Missouri State University |
> | Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 \ |
> | Ph: (573) 651-2298 /\ |
> | Fax: (573) 986-6858 (__) |
> | email: starrett at cstl.semo.edu |
> | WWW: http://biology.semo.edu/starrett/starrhpg.html |
> \______________________________________________________/
>Instead of sending several individual responses - decided to take this to the
NG even though there's little content here.
Rather suspected germination from the produce section was unlikely.
I used to have the address of a nursery in Hawaii that
specialized shipping to the mainland, but they must've bellied up after a bad
storm a few years ago (actually, quite a few, now that I take stock).
My bro-in-law is visiting from Honolulu, but when I asked for an assortment of
"plant seeds" - I got "crack seed" (dried fruit still containing the seeds -
unfortunately they're plums & such variety).
A little too laid back, I think. They're still howling over his error.
(Don't know what's going on with my ISP & the multiple posts, they're working
on a bad kernal - endosperm notwithstanding).
Thanks for the reply to all.
-- E. G.
