THE STRUCTURE OF THE PERICARP AND TESTA OF BARLEY

Detailed microscopic study of the covering layers of the mature barley grain shows that beneath the husk the pericarp consists of highly compressed cell material bound by a thin outer cuticle. The testa is a double cell layer, also bound by an outer cuticle. An innermost cuticular membrane separates the testa from the remains of the nucellus. This membrane is of nucellar origin and not part of the testa. The outer cuticle of the testa is incomplete in the ventral furrow and in the micropylar area of the grain. The absence of the testa cuticle and the relatively uncompressed nature of the pericarp at the micropyle may facilitate uptake of solutes by the embyro.