Parts of a Lima Bean

Seeds

• Lima beans begin as seeds. Seeds contain all the genetic material and food they need to start growing into a plant that produces more beans, when subjected to enough water, light and high enough soil temperatures.

Food

• Endosperm contained within the seed coating provides food for a seed's two halves, or cotyledon, to survive until plant leaves and roots develop. An embryo, or tiny plant in the middle of the two halves, is present. Nutrients like starch and proteins are included to make germination possible.

Water

• A lima bean seed lies dormant, with some moisture in it, until it is exposed to more water via a small hole called a micropyle, in the seedling coating where the two halves meet.

Entry

• The hole where water enters a lima seed is near the hilum, where the seed curves in and is tough. Once it enters, water activates an enzyme that causes the seed halves to swell, split and start growing a plant with roots and a shoot.

Edible fruit

• Plants form flowers which, once pollinated, produce edible beans encased in pods. To eat them, beans must be harvested from the pods, before they become tough and are better used as seeds.