Figure 1. Fruit, seeds, and seedlings of T. hemprichii.

A fruit attached to the base of a shoot (A). A typical seed with seed coat resembling a bell in shape (B). Seed germination at early stage (C). A longitudinal section of a seed illustrating texture difference between the apex and the base; ES, embryonic shoots (D). Uneven distribution of starch granules, stained by iodine in a longitudinal section, between the apex and the base (E). Magnification of the stained starch granules (F). A germinating seed with root hair-like filamentous cells emerging from all over the basal surface before emergence of primary root. Note that the sediment is composed of coral and silicate sands (G). A seedling floating in seawater when its vegetative tissue is dominant (H). A seedling right after germination shown in (G) with root hair-like filamentous cells grasping of small coral sands but not silicate sand at the seed base (I). A basal surface view of a typical seed with a tip of the primary root, indicated by the black arrow, at the base center before germination (J). A primary root emerged beneath the shoots (K). A primary root emerged from the center of seed base (L). A young plant floating in seawater (M). Scale bar in F: 100 µm; in others: 0.5 cm.