CULTIVATED FRUITS 



NUTS 



The common fruits known as Nuts are varied 

 in character, but may be grouped as: Acorns, 

 Hazelnut, Chestnut, and Beechnut, Hickory 

 Nut, Walnut, and Butternut. 



The acorn fruit is individual, composed of two 

 very distinct parts, the acorn and the encircling 

 cup at the base, in which the acorn sits. This 

 cup is a curious and beautiful structure, sup- 

 posed to be a development of the involucre. 

 When the acorn is ripe the nut shrinks a little 

 and falls out of the cup; sometimes it falls with 

 the cup. The acorn figures largely as food for 

 the wildlings. In England long ago it was 

 highly prized as food for swine, and in the 

 Doomsday Book woods were valued according 

 to the number of swine they could feed. In the 

 case of Hazelnut, Chestnut, and Beechnut the 

 involucre at the base of the flower enlarges, 

 grows around the nut and completely envelops 

 it, forming the husk or burr. When the fruit 

 is ripe, in the case of the Chestnut and Beech- 

 nut, the burr opens and the nut falls out. 



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