Foxtail (Setaria spp.) Seed Placental
Pore
Foxtail (Setaria spp.) Seed Placental
PorePlacental Pore: The
Hull
Placental Pore: The Caryopsis
Placental Pore: The Symplast
Below: Paleal (bottom) side of giant foxtail caryopsis. Placental pore (right, center) is white, where the seed pedicel was attached to the parent plant. The circular, reddish disk is the placental pad (right, center), and is distal (left) to the placental pore. Note shiny suberized caryopsis coat, with dark spots, restricting water and gas entry to placental pore region (right center).
Note the more reddish placental pad on the caryopsis on the left (below).
Three caryopses. The two caryopses on the top(center) and the right (lower) reveal the top (lemma side). Note the sunken embryo and the prominent coleorhiza (root system) (e.g. top, center caryopsis; right end). The clear-colored floral remnants (stigma, anthers) of the top, center caryopsis can be seen on the distal (left) end.
The basal end (top, center) of the caryopsis is apparent in the picture below. Note the white placental pore at the top, center.
The whitish placental pores (center) and the reddish placental pads (left, right, center) can be seen on these two caryopses. Note that the whitish placental pores do not have their vascular projections that connect them with the hull. The horn-like projections were removed when these caryopses were dissected dry from the covering hull (lemma, palea) structures.
A basal end, side view of a caryopsis. Note the sunken embryo and the prominent coleorhiza (root system) (center and left end). The clear-colored floral remnants (stigma, anthers) can be seen on the distal (right) end.
The dry, shrunken embryo within the endosperm of a giant foxtail (Setaria faberii) caryopsis can be seen in this electron micrograph.
