Morphology of fruits and seeds of Euterpe edulis, Mart.

Abstract

This paper describes the fruit and seed morphology of Euterpe edulis, Mart.. The mesocarp has fibrous blade, with 0,5 x 23 mm in average, made of wood fibers, sclereids and spiralated vessels. Endocarp membranous, 0,3 mm thick, with predominancy of sclereids over fibers, lateral hilum, excavated. Opercular area, and operculum with 1,8 mm of diameter. The basal embryo, with cylindrical-conic shape has 3,5 mm length and 1,8 mm in diameter. It has two regions, one conic and the other cylindrical. They correspond respectively to the median part and to the sheath of the cotyledon. The firts one develops during the germination in haustorium, and the second enclosed the plumule and the hypocotyl-root axis. The radicle is enclosed by the coleorhiza and the plumule by an coleoptile.