| Scarification was accomplished by piercing the seed coat and scraping a small portion of the perisperm with a sterile dissecting needle. |
| A caryopsis was considered germinated when the radicle pierced the seed coat, approximately 10 h after the start of imbibition. |
| A seed was regarded as germinated when the radicle protruded through the seed coat. |
| The outermost cell layer is the epidermis with a cuticle that covers the entire seed coat. |
| Thus the three seed components, embryo, endosperm and seed coat, are genetically distinct. |
| The layer between seed coat and cotyledon probably includes the wall of the embryo sac. |
