Page 65 - ICSE Science 3 : E-book

Fruit

A fl ower turns into a fruit. Fruit is the
fl eshy eatable part of the plant. It

contains seeds in it. Diff erent fruits a few seeds single large
contain diff erent types and numbers in an apple seed in a
mango
of seeds. For example, an apple
many seeds in a
contains a few small seeds, while a pomegranate

mango contains a single large seed. A Diff erent fruits with diff erent
pomegranate has many small seeds. types and number of seeds

Functions of the fruit

• A fruit’s main function is to enclose and protect the seeds.

• Fruits of most of the plants are eaten by us such as orange, mango and apple.

Seed

Seeds are the small hard structures produced by plants. They are mostly enclosed
inside the fruit. Seeds come in diff erent sizes, shapes and colours. Some seeds

appear very small in size like grains while some appear very big. They may be oval,
spherical, or kidney-shaped. Seeds can be yellow, green, white, brown or of some

other colour.

Functions of the seed
Did You Know!
• A seed’s major function is to give rise to a new plant. Not all plants

grow from seeds,
• We eat seeds of plants like wheat, rice, corn, and gram.
for example,
Such seeds are called edible seeds. banana.

Structure of a Seed

Although seeds diff er in size, shape and colour, they have common parts. These
include the seed coat, the embryo (baby plant) and the cotyledons.

• The seed coat is the tough and hard outer covering of the seed. It has a tiny

hole through which the seed gets water. It protects the embryo inside the seed.

• The embryo is the baby plant inside the seed. As the seed matures with the
help of sunlight, air, food and water, the baby plant grows into a seedling.

51