Coleorhiza
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coleorhiza
[‚kō·lē·ə′rīz·ə] (botany)
The sheath surrounding the radicle in monocotyledons.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Coleorhiza
a calyptrate sheath that surrounds the primary root, enclosed in the seed of a plant. It performs a protective function. The coleorhiza is characteristic of cereal grains; it is also present in eucalypti. The growing rootlets rupture the seed (caryopsis), causing it to sprout.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.