Question

What is the endosperm?

Answer 1

The tissue around the seed nourishing the plant embryo

Explanation:

Angiosperms can receive multiple sperm. While one will fuse with the ovary, the other sperm, usually two, will fuse with another non reproductive cell to create a tissue cell. This grows around the seed to become the nourishment for it. The tissue is also part fruit. Notable are coconuts liquid endosperm, and corn which is mostly endosperm. Wheat and grains have large endosperms and really tiny embryos. It is almost usually (2n<), polyploid.

The endosperm, in plants, degrades as it matures, from programmed cell death. The nutrients are absorbed from the cotyledon, or from an enlarged cotyledon, a scutellum. Legumes and orchids lack endosperm.