plumule

These plumules interlock and trap tiny pockets of air — it’s actually this layer of air that keeps the cold out and the warmth in.

Embryo like that of Nymphæa on a large scale; cotyledons thick and fleshy, enclosing a plumule of 1 or 2 well-formed young leaves, enclosed in a delicate stipule-like sheath.

The sprout at the end of a seed when it begins to germinate; the plumule in germination; Ð so called from its spiral form.

Finally the plumule escapes, its leaves successively breaking through at the tip of the germ-sheath.

Within the cotyledons the primordial leaves are seen, constituting the plumule or first bud of the plant.