BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS— XII. 



FRUITS. 



It is a singular fact that plants during their flowering 

 period extend a welcome to a host of bees, flies and other 

 insects, but as soon as the blossoms fall, turn their atten- 

 tion toward other classes of animals. Insects are just the 

 animals to most easily effect pollination but they are too 

 small and weak to carry the seeds. The fruits, therefore, 

 are fashioned with an eye to birds, mammals and other 

 agencies. 



B3' fruits we do not necessarily mean the juicy morsels 

 that are borne by trees like the cherry, apple and orange. 

 The fruit is the ripened ovary and is as likeh' to be a dry 

 seed pod as it is to be the structure we more commonW 

 call a fruit. Nor is it always the ovary and its contents 

 alone, that forms the fruit. Often the calyx or receptacle, 

 or both, may grow after the plant has blossomed and be- 

 come a part ot it. 



Some of the more common forms of fruits maj- here be 

 mentioned. The achene is a one-seeded fruit and by man^^ 

 is thought to be only a seed. What is usually considered 

 to be the seed of the sunflower is a good example. Of seed 

 vessels, the pod or legume is familiar as the fruit of the 

 great pea family, while the silique is the name of the seed- 

 pod in the cress family represented by the turnip, radish, 

 mustard and the like. The drupe is the name of the stone 

 fruits like the cherry, peach and sumac. The raspberry is 

 therefore merely a collection of small drupes. The berry 

 may be defined as a fleshy fruit with a soft rind and the 

 seeds embedded in the pulp. Under this definition the 

 straw^berry is not a berry although the tomato is ! The 

 capsule is what we ordinarily call a seed-pod and good 

 examples may be found among the pinks, poppies, prim- 

 roses and many more. Other names to distinguish vari- 

 ous fruits are abundant but the beginner will find them in 

 any good glossary when he needs them. 



To the student one of the most interesting things 

 about fruits is their adaptations for being transported to 

 a distance. It is the aim of all plants to extend the area 



