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Monocots and Dicots

Monocots and Dicots

Chart showing Differences
Monocot

Dicot
SEED

Monocots have only one seed leaf inside the

seed coat. It is often only a thin leaf, because the
endosperm to feed the new plant is not inside the
seed leaf.

Dicots have two seed leaves inside the seed

coat. They are usually rounded and fat, because
they contain the endosperm to feed the embryo
plant.

GERMINATION

Homeria

Lilium

Gloriosa

When a monocot seed germinates, it produces a

single leaf. It is usually long and narrow, like the
adult leaf. Even when it is quite a round shape,
there is only one seed leaf in a monocot.

http://theseedsite.co.uk/monocots2.html

Eryngium

Sanguisorba
Cladanthus

When a dicot germinates, it produces two

seedleaves. They contain the food for the new
plant, so they are usually fatter than the true
leaves. The first true leaves are often a different
shape.
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Monocots and Dicots

LEAVES

Washingtonia

Clivia

Malva

Canna
The leaves of monocots are often long and
narrow, with their veins in straight lines up and
down the leaf. Sometimes, the veins run from the
centre of the leaf to the edge, parallel to one
another.

Rosa
Campanula

Leaves of dicots come in many different shapes

and sizes. The veins go from the central midrib to
the edge of the leaf, crossing and joining to form
a netted pattern all over the leaf.

STEM & ROOTS

Stem

Sheath

Root

The stems of monocots are usually unbranched

and fleshy. They do not grow thicker from year to
year. New leaves often grow wrapped in a
protective sheath formed by the older leaf. The
roots of dicots are usually short and stringy.
Dicots often have bulbs.

http://theseedsite.co.uk/monocots2.html

Stem

Stipule

Root

The stems of dicots are usually tough. They can

grow wider each year and are often branched.
They sometimes have stipules at the base of the
leaf. The root is often a single long tap root with
smaller roots growing from it.

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Monocots and Dicots

FLOWER

Cyrtanthus

Pleione
Agapanthus

Oenothera

Epilobium
Geranium

The parts of the flower of monocots are in threes. The flowers of dicots usually have flower parts in
The sepals are often the same colour as the
fours or fives. The calyx is a separate ring of
petals, making it look as if the flower has six
sepals under the corolla, and is usually green.
petals. There are usually the same number of
stamens as petals.

SEEDPOD

Iris

Anthericum
Hedychium

The seed pods or fruits of monocots usually have

three parts. The seeds are often large and fleshy.
The largest seed in the world, the Coco-de-Mer,
and the smallest seeds in the world, Orchid
seeds, are both monocot seeds.

Lychnis

Erigeron

Clitoria

The seedpods or fruits and the seeds of dicots

are very variable in shape, size and texture. The
seedpod can have any number of chambers,
from none to many. There are often more seeds
in a seedpod than in a monocot seedpod.

There's more about these differences and similarities here.

Back to the Index of Technical Terms
http://theseedsite.co.uk/monocots2.html

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