The "seed leaves" produced by a seed plant embryo They serve to absorb nutrients packaged in the seed, until the seedling is able to produce its first true leaves and begin photosynthesis The number of cotyledons is a key feature for the identification of the two major groups of flowering plants
Seed leaf within the embryo of a seed that provides energy and nutrients for the developing seedling. After the first true leaves have formed, they wither and fall off. Flowering plants whose embryos have a single cotyledon are grouped as monocots, or monocotyledonous plants; embryos with two cotyledons are grouped as dicots, or dicotyledonous plants. Unlike flowering plants, gymnosperms usually have several cotyledons rather than one or two
In the seed, there is a tiny leaf (or set of leaves) that will be the first to the see the sun after the seed has germinated This is the cotyledon Sometimes there are two sets; a plant with two sets is said to be a dicotyledon The cotyledon sustains the plant until its first set of true leaves appear
A primary leaf; generally stores food in dicotyledons and absorbs food in monocotyledons
Seed leaf: leaf-like structures in the embryos of seeds Grasses have one cotyledon in each seed (monocotyledon), while legumes have two (dicotyledon)
Seed leaves of the embryo which are usually thickened for storage of food reserves and may serve as true foliage leaves