A corn grain is actually a seed surrounded by a thin fruit wall to which the seed coat is tightly bonded. The seed contains an embryo, one cotyledon (corn is a monocot), and a second food-storage structure called the endosperm (endo, “within”; sperma, “seed”) that also nourishes the seedling during germination. The soft, white pulp in each grain of fresh corn-on-the-cob is endosperm.
