Question

Very hard endosperm is produced in
A. Areca
B. Phytelephas
C. Phoenix
D. All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: The endosperm is a tissue generated inside the seeds of most of the flowering plants after fertilization. It is triploid in many species. It encloses the embryo and provides nutrition in the form of starch. It also contains oils and protein. This makes endosperm a source of nutrition in animal diet.

Complete answer:
Option A- Areca
Areca is a genus of about 50 species of palms. It belongs to the family Arecaceae.

Option B- Phytelephas
Phytelephas is a genus containing six known species of palms, commonly known as ivory palms, ivory-nut palms, or tagua palms. The scientific name Phytelephas means "plant elephant".

Option C- Phoenix
Phoenix dactylifera is commonly known as date or date palm. It is a flowering plant species belonging to the palm family, Arecaceae.

Option D- all of the above
Areca, Phytelephas, and Phoenix have liquid Endosperm identical to coconut in the first stages which gets hardened at maturity. Liquid Endosperm is an unrestricted nuclear endosperm. In Later stages, the nuclei arrange themselves towards the periphery of the embryo sac and wall formation takes place. It occurs from the periphery to the center i.e. centripetal wall formation occurs. This leads to a cellular type of endosperm because at maturity very hard Endosperm is produced in these plants.

Hence, The correct answer is option (D).

Note: Example of hard endosperm, the wheat endosperm is ground into flour for bread. Other examples of endosperm are coconut "meat" and coconut "water", and corn. Some plants that lack endosperm in their seeds are orchids.