192 CHERRY. [CH. XIV 



of the ovary. The funicle communicates by a vascular 

 strand C with the stalk of the fruit, and it is through this 

 channel that the developing seed is supplied with food 

 from the tree. To recapitulate : the kernel of the cherry 

 is the seed, and contains, within a soft seed coat, the 

 embryo, whose large cotyledons fill up the whole of the 

 cavity : the seed is attached to the inside of the stone, 

 which is not part of the seed but is the hardened inner 

 layer of the wall of the ovary. The rest of the ovary- wall 

 is developed into the flesh and " skin " of the cherry. 

 Thus the soft and sugar-containing tissue capable of 

 yielding food, and therefore of being attractive to animals, 

 is supplied by part of the ovary- wall, while the protective 

 layer of hard tissue is supplied by another part of the 

 same. In describing fruits it is found convenient to use 

 the word pericarp for the part which surrounds the seeds ; 

 the terms endocarp, mesocarp and epicarp are also used 

 when the pericarp is differentiated into layers of different 

 characters. Thus in the cherry the endocarp is stony, 

 the mesocarp fleshy and the epicarp membranous. 



There are some interesting resemblances between the 

 distribution of seeds by animals and the fertilisation of 

 flowers by insects. In both cases the plant makes use 

 of the movements of animals to supply its own want 

 of locomotion. In both cases the animal is induced to 

 serve the plant, by a bribe of food, nectar or pollen in the 

 case of the flower, edible tissues in the case of the fruit. 

 In both, bright colours are developed, which only appear 

 when the flower is mature or the fruit ripe, as the case 

 may be. 



