In plant physiology, the epicotyl is the embryonic shoot above the cotyledons. In dicots, the hypocotyl is what appears to be the base stem under the spent withered cotyledons, and the shoot just above that is the epicotyl. In monocot plants, the first shoot that emerges from the ground or from the seed is the epicotyl, from which the first shoots and leaves emerge. In botany, plant physiology is the study of the function, or physiology of plants. ... This seedling germinated producing two plain-looking cotyledons later followed by two normal-looking leaves that are small copies of the adult leaves. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Orders Base Monocots: Acorus Alismatales Asparagales Dioscoreales Liliales Pandanales Family Petrosaviaceae Commelinids: Arecales Commelinales Poales Zingiberales Family Dasypogonaceae Monocotyledons or monocots are a group of flowering plants usually ranked as a class and once called the Monocotyledoneae. ... A seed is the ripened ovule of gymnosperm or angiosperm plants. ...
Externally the seed has several visible structures the hilum or point of attachment in the seed pod, the lens or a weak point in the seed coat, and the micropyle, which is a remnant of the tiny opening the pollen tube grew through during the process of fertilizing the female ovary.
Vegetative growth continues through cell division and expansion in the epicotyl or growing point of the young plant.
The second leaf of the alfalfa plant is usually trifoliolate (three leaflets) and originates from the second primary stem node (Figure 4).