Cotyledon
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A cotyledon is a "seed leaf" - a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant, and is formally defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first to appear from a germinating seed." Botanists use the number of cotyledons present as one characteristic to classify the flowering plants (angiosperms): species with one cotyledon are called monocotyledonous ("monocots"); plants with two embryonic leaves are termed dicotyledonous ("dicots").
Cotyledon from a Judas-tree (Cercis siliquastrum, a dicot) seedling
Comparison of a monocot and dicot sprouting. The visible part of the monocot plant (left) is actually the first true leaf produced from the meristem; the cotyledon itself remains within the seed
Peanut seeds split in half, showing the embryos with cotyledons and primordial root
Two-week-old Douglas fir (a conifer) with seven cotyledons
Monocotyledon
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Monocotyledons, commonly referred to as monocots, are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of the major groups into which the flowering plants have traditionally been divided; the rest of the flowering plants have two cotyledons and are classified as dicotyledons, or dicots.
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