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The scutellum of a monocot seed is best described as which kind of organ?
AA storage organ holding the food reserves
BA protective organ covering the shoot tip
CAn absorptive organ taking up food reserves
DA conducting organ replacing the seed xylem
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. An absorptive organ taking up food reserves
1. In monocots such as corn and wheat the single cotyledon is called the scutellum.
2. Food reserves in these seeds are stored in the large endosperm rather than in the cotyledon.
3. On germination the released reserves are absorbed by the scutellum and moved to the embryo through a vascular strand.
4. So the scutellum is an absorptive organ, not a storage organ.
5. Calling it a store is the trap, because in many dicot seeds the cotyledons really are the store.
6. The covering that protects the emerging shoot tip is the coleoptile, which is a separate structure.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 32 "Plant Reproduction", section 32.2 Pollination and Fertilization_
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