Question

_______ is not an endospermic seed.
(a) Pea
(b) Castor
(c) Maize
(d) Wheat

Answer 1

Hint: The scientific name of that non-endospermic seed is Pisum sativum. Food is amassed in cotyledons. The cotyledons are in every case thick and fleshy.

Complete answer:
Endosperm functions as the food storing tissue of a seed. It is produced as an outcome of double fertilization in angiosperms.
In most monocots and some dicot seeds, the food reserve stays in the endosperm. They are known as endospermic or albuminous seeds, e.g., maize, wheat, castor bean, coconut, barley, rubber.
Though in most of the dicot seeds (e.g., orchids, Sagittaria), the endosperm is expended during seed improvement, and the food is stored in cotyledons and other areas. They are called non-endospermic or exalbuminous seeds.

So, the right answer is (a) 'Pea'.

Additional Information:
Attributes of Endospermic seeds are:
> In endospermic seed, the endosperm is available.
> Food is not accumulated in cotyledons.
> The cotyledons are slender and papery.
> Perisperm does not produce from nucellus.
> Suspensor, haustoria do not replace the endosperm.
Example: Castor, Maize

Attributes of Non- endospermic seeds are:
> In non-endospermic seed, the endosperm is absent.
> Food is accumulated in cotyledons.
> The cotyledons are thick and fleshy.
> Perisperm gets created from nucellus.
> Suspensor, haustoria replace the endosperm.
Example: Pea, Bean, Cucurbita.

Note: The majority of the species of the legume family (Fabaceae) including pea (Pisum sativum) and diverse beans have non-endospermic seeds. The cotyledons serve as only food storage organs as on account of a pea. During embryo maturation, the cotyledons absorb the food reserves from the endosperm completely. In the mature seed, the embryo is enveloped solely by the testa as the only seed covering layer.