CH. XI V] EDIBLE FRUITS. 189 



foot or two in height and bearing an inconspicuous yellow 

 flower. In the fruiting stage the receptacle is crowned 

 with a number of carpels each bearing a hook (H, fig. 

 89) : the carpels are but loosely attached to the receptacle 

 so that a trouser brushing against the hooks easily carries 

 off the fruit. 



The style is straight in the young flower, but with 

 age a bayonet-like bend appears which becomes exag- 

 gerated into the curious shape shown in the lower 

 drawing in fig. 89, as well as in the upper figure on the 

 right. Finally the terminal limb of the crook (which 

 ends in the stigma, S) breaks away and leaves a sharp, 

 hard hook. 



III. Fruits which are eaten by animals. 



If a seed is to be distributed by passing through the 

 intestines of an animal, two adaptations to such a mode of 

 distribution will be met with. (1) The seed must be 

 protected by a covering, supplied either by the seed-coats 

 or part of the fruit, of such a nature that the seed may 

 escape being crushed by the teeth of the animal, and may 

 also avoid the action of the digestive secretions in the 

 alimentary canal. (2) There must be something eatable 

 surrounding the seed, which makes it worth while for an 

 animal to swallow it. These characters will be studied 

 in the cherry, the gooseberry and the pear, and it 

 will be found that the attraction offered to animals 

 and the protection of the seed are insured by different 

 means and by different parts of the flower in these 

 three plants. 



