0 the layer that develops from the ovary wall around the seed of a plant after it is fertilized and forms the skin and flesh of the fruit --
This may be at least partly explained by differences in leakage from the pericarps.
A marked reduction in the mean rate of water loss was recorded for intact acorns compared with those from which the pericarp had been removed.
The pericarp surface corresponding to the cupule is rough textured, grey and increasingly thickened from the edges to the centre.
The endosperm and pericarp consist of non-living tissue and leakage from these tissues is not likely to be influenced by ageing.
This procedure was necessary in order to moisten the pericarp and endosperm before excision.
Increases in embryo osmotic potential and in the turgor yield thresholds of both the radicle and the endosperm/pericarp envelope contributed to this change.
The tightly woven cell layers of the pericarp are also barriers to gases.
Subsequently, the part of the pericarp covering the embryo was removed and the embryo was gently detached from the adjacent tissue using a dissecting needle.