At 08:53 AM 8/11/99 -0500, Monique Reed wrote:
>I'm not sure how the endosperm ends up evenly distributed. And yes, the
>multi-nucleate endosperm is unusual. I've never had the opportunity to
>cut through a fully mature coconut, so I don't know if it all solidifies
>or if there is a little slosh left over. I would guess that the hollow
>space is indeed helpful in helping the seed float, since that's how the
>plants are dispersed.
>>A coconut is actually a type of drupe--the husk is the exocarp and
>mesocarp, and the hard brown shell is the endocarp. (Remember that what
>you see in the supermarket is not the whole fruit.) There's got to be a
>little embryo in there somewhere, but in all my supermarket-coconut
>opening days, I have never found one. I will look a little harder in
>this year's Plants and People course. The embryo might be really,
>really tiny in an unripe nut.
So drupe can be used to refer to a monocot fruit. I wasn't sure about
that. Now I am intrigued about the embryo and will keep an eye peeled for it.
Thanx,
Dave
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