Somatic embryos were induced from scutellar callus of immature zygotic embryos of T aestivum cv.
Chinese Spring. Observations on precociously germinating somatic embryos revealed that: (i) In the initial
stages the coleoptile is split, exposes the shoot apex and forms a green trichomatous leafy structure.
In the germinating zygotic embryo, the coleoptile is tubular, (ii) Unlike what has been inferred earlier the
leafy structure is the coleoptile and not the scutellum, (iii) Bipolarity of the embryoid is established later
when root develops at the basal end.