➢ THE SEED(Fertilised ovule)

• Seed is the final product of sexual reproduction.

• Seed consist of (i) seed coat
(ii) cotyledon(s)
(iii) embryo
(i) Seed coat: Integuments of the ovule harden as tough protective seed coats.
• The Micropyle remains as a small pore in the seed coat to facilitate entry of oxygen
and water into the seed during germination
(ii)The cotyledons are thick and swollen due to storage of reserve food.
➢ Non -Albuminous and Albuminous seeds:
• Non- Albuminous seeds: have no residual endosperm as it is completely consumed
during embryo development e.g. pea, groundnut.
• Albuminous seeds: retain a part of the endosperm as it is not completely used up during
embryo development. E.g.. Wheat, maize, barley, castor, sunflower.
➢ Perisperm: in some seeds the residual persistent nucellus is the perisperm. e.g.. Black
pepper and beet.
➢ Dormancy: is a state of inactivity were the general metabolic activity of the embryo slows
down.
• Dormancy of seeds are crucial for storage of seeds which can be used as food
throught the year and also to raise crops in the next season.
• The oldest viable seed of Lupinus arcticus germinated and flowered after 10,000
years of dormancy.
• 2000 years old viable seed is of the date palm. Phoenix dactylifera.
➢ Ovules mature into seeds and ovary develops into fruit.
➢ Pericarp: The wall of the ovary develops into the wall of the fruit called the pericarp.
➢ Fleshy or dry fruits:
• Fleshy fruit e.g.. Mango, orange
• Dry frits e.g.. groundnut, mustard
➢ False fruit or true fruit:
• False fruit: Along with the ovary the thalamus also contributes in fruit formation e.g.
Strawberry, apple, cashew.
• True fruit: Fruits that develop only from the ovary .
➢ Parthenocarpic fruits: Fruits which develop without fertilisation.e.g.. Banana.
➢ Advantages of seeds in angiosperms:
• Since reproductive processes such as pollination and fertilisation are independent of
water , seed formation is more dependable.
• Seeds have better adaptive strategies for dispersal to new habitats and help the
species to colonise in other areas.
• Seeds have sufficient food reserve and seedlings are nourished until they are
capable of photosynthesis on their own.
• The hard seed coat provides protection to the young embryo.
• Seeds generate new genetic combinations leading to variations.
➢ Orchid fruits contain thousands of tiny seeds.
➢ Fruits of parasitic species Orobanche and Striga contain thousands of seeds.
➢ Apomixis: Seeds produced without fertilisation. E.g. species of grasses and
Asteraceae.
 •Advantages of apomixis: if hybrid seeds are made into apomixes, there is no
segregation of character in the hybrid progeny.
• Farmers can keep on using the hybrid seeds to raise new crop year after year
and he does not have to buy hybrid seeds year after year.
➢ Polyembryony: Some angiosperms produce more than one embryo in their seed. This
phenomenon is called polyembryony .e.g..Citrus and mango
• Some of the nucellar cells surrounding the embryo sac start dividing protrude into
the embryo and develop into the embryos.