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How do monocots and eudicots differ in the number of seed leaves?
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Plant
Grandidier's baobas (Adansonia grandidieri) in Madagascar.
Monocots and eudicots are distinguished primarily by the number of cotyledonsāor embryonic seed leavesāpresent in the seed:
- Monocots (monocotyledons) are characterized by the presence of only one seed leaf in the embryo.1
- Eudicots (eudicotyledons) typically possess two seed leaves.12
These structural differences in the embryo are fundamental to the classification of these two major groups of angiosperms.12