Question

Are the following statements True(T) or False(F).
a) Some seeds have no cotyledons at all.
b) Maize grain is fruit and not a seed.

Answer 1

Hint: A cotyledon is an essential part of the embryo inside a plant's seed, and is characterised as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first to emerge from a germinating seed." One feature often used by botanists to identify flowering plants is the number of cotyledons existing in the seed.

Complete answer:
(a) In every seed, Cotyledons are present. These are produced with the endosperm within the seed. These are plants categorised on the basis of the presence of cotyledons. However, it is true that there are no cotyledons at all in the seedlings of some flowering plants.
So, the given statement is true i.e. (T)

(b) Usually in a maize grain, caryopsis, the seed coat is membranous and also is fused with the fruit wall. In reality, a maize grain is a ripened ovary that also comprises a ripened ovule. A maize grain is thus commonly called a fruit and not a seed.
So, the given statement is true i.e. (T)

Additional information:
A highly modified leaf comprising a scutellum and a coleoptile is the cotyledon of grasses and many other monocotyledons. The scutellum is a seed tissue that is intended to absorb accumulated food from the neighbouring endosperm. The coleoptile is a plumule-covering protective cap (precursor to the plant stem and leaves).

Note: Seed leaf or 'embryonic leaf' is the other name of cotyledon. Reason: Inside the embryo of seed-bearing plants, the embryonic leaf is a separate component. The first leaves that grow during germination are these.