the embryonic bean

Welcome to the beginning of my bean-growing journey! I received this bean in a small pot of soil on a chilly Tuesday and was slightly concerned about making the trek home without any sort of insulation. Upon arrival at my apartment, I gave the freshly planted seed a douse of water and placed it in the sunniest spot in my kitchen other than the windowsill, where I feared it would freeze.

figure 1. Anatomy of a bean, illustrated

Figure 1 displays the structure of a bean seed, the embryonic stage of the seed-plant life cycle. The seed, developing from the ovule, contains an embryo surrounded by an endosperm, which serves as the food source for the developing embryo. This endosperm will later form the cotyledon, the initial embryonic leaves of the plant. The root of the embryo is known as the radicle, and its shoot is called the plumule. All of these components are surrounded by the seed coat, providing a protective structure for the organs contained within.