ON FRUITS AuYD SEEDS. 



359 



TREES, SHRUBS, AXD CLIMBIXG SHRUBS NATIVE OR NATURALIZED IN 



BRITAIN. 



Or let us take one natural order. That of the roses is particularly 

 interesting. In the genus Geum the fruit is provided with hooks ; in 

 Dryas it terminates in a long feathered a-^Ti, like that of Clematis. 

 On the other hand, several genera have edible fruits ; but it is curi- 

 ous that the part of a plant which becomes fleshy, and thus tempting 

 to animals, differs considerably in the different genera. In the black- 

 berry, for instance, and in the raspberry, the carpels constitute the 

 edible portion. When we eat a raspberry we strip them off and leave 

 the receptacle behind ; while in the strawberry the receptacle consti- 

 tutes the edible portion ; the carpels are small, hard, and closely sur- 

 round the seeds. In these genera the sepals are situated below the 

 fruit. In the rose, on the contrary, it is the peduncle that is swollen 

 and inverted, so as to form a hollow cup, in the interior of which the 

 carpels are situated. Here you will remember that the sepals are situ- 

 ated above, not below, the fruit. Again, in the pear and apple, it is 



