Definition of "hypocotyl" [hypocotyl]

• The part of the axis of a plant embryo or seedling plant that is below the cotyledons. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Arabidopsis thaliana, the embryonic stem or hypocotyl grows rapidly by longitudinal cell expansion in a process referred to as hypocotyl elongation."
• " It†™ s also grown for its fleshy hypocotyl which is used as medicinal herbal."
• "For some reason, I still maintain the awestruck wonder of a kinder planting beans pressed against the side of a jar so that the roots, hypocotyl, and plumule display, then watch in amazement as they burst through the ground and struggle toward the light."