Question

In a coconut, what do the coconut water and white kernel represent morphologically?

Options

• Coconut water is helobial endosperm, and the white kernel is the degenerated chalazal chamber.

• Coconut water is cellular endosperm, and the white kernel is free-nuclear endosperm.

• Coconut water is free-nuclear endosperm, and the white kernel is cellular endosperm.

• Coconut water is the diploid embryo, and the white kernel is the triploid syncytium.

Answer 1

Coconut displays both nuclear and cellular endosperm in the same fruit: the coconut water is a liquid syncytium containing thousands of free nuclei (free-nuclear endosperm), while the white kernel is cellular endosperm with wall formation at the periphery.