Biology · Morphology of Flowering Plants · NEET
The scutellum is the single, large, shield-shaped cotyledon of a monocot seed such as maize. It sits against the endosperm and absorbs stored food to feed the growing embryo. In NEET, remember: scutellum = cotyledon of monocot. This was directly asked in NEET 2016 and matched again in NEET 2025.
Both are protective sheaths in the monocot embryo, but they cover different parts. The coleoptile covers and protects the plumule (the future shoot). The coleorhiza covers and protects the radicle (the future root). Easy trick: coleoPtile = Plumule (top), coleoRhiza = Radicle/Root (bottom).
The cotyledon of a maize grain is called the scutellum. A maize grain has only one cotyledon (it is a monocot), and it is shield-shaped. Note the trap: coleoptile, coleorhiza and plumule are NOT the cotyledon. This exact question appeared in NEET 2016 (answer: scutellum).
Maize and other cereals are endospermic (albuminous) seeds. The endosperm is bulky and stores food, and it is retained in the mature seed. The embryo does NOT eat up all the food during seed formation, so the endosperm stays. This is why the next topic, endospermic vs non-endospermic seeds, matters for NEET.
The aleurone layer is a proteinous (protein-rich) outer layer of the endosperm that separates the endosperm from the embryo in cereal grains. It was asked directly in NEET 2025. Do not confuse it with the seed coat; the aleurone layer lies inside, around the endosperm.
The embryo is small and lies in a groove at one end of the endosperm. It has one scutellum (cotyledon) and a short embryonal axis carrying the plumule (with coleoptile) and the radicle (with coleorhiza). The seed coat is membranous and usually fused with the fruit wall, so a maize grain is technically a fruit (caryopsis).
Cotyledon of maize grain is called:
In the seeds of cereals, the outer covering of endosperm separates the embryo by a protein-rich layer called:
Match List I with List II: A. Scutellum; B. Non-albuminous seed; C. Epiblast; D. Perisperm — with I. Persistent nucellus; II. Cotyledon of Monocot seed; III. Groundnut; IV. Rudimentary cotyledon.
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
In maize the seed coat is membranous and fused with the fruit wall (pericarp). Because the seed and fruit wall cannot be separated, the whole grain is a one-seeded fruit called a caryopsis. For NEET, remember cereal grains are fruits, though they are studied as seeds.
A monocot seed has only one cotyledon. In maize that single cotyledon is the scutellum. Dicot seeds (like gram or bean) have two cotyledons. This one-vs-two cotyledon difference is a key monocot vs dicot point for NEET.
The coleoptile is a protective sheath that covers the plumule (young shoot) in a monocot seed. When the seed germinates, it protects the delicate shoot as it pushes up through the soil. The matching sheath for the radicle is the coleorhiza.
No. The scutellum is the single cotyledon of the embryo, while the endosperm is separate food-storing tissue. The scutellum lies against the endosperm and absorbs food from it during germination. Keeping them separate avoids a common NEET mistake.
