THE FRUIT 



377 



maturity, and an enlarged fleshy placenta protrudes. (The seeds have 

 been described as having arils or caruncles.) 



Dehiscence 



Fruits are dehiscent when the tissues of the mature ovarv wall — 

 pericarp — break open, freeing the seeds; and indehiscent when the seedi 



FL OWER 



FRUIT 



Chlogenes hispidula 



Gaultheria procumbens 



Fig. 140. Diagrams of longitudinal sections of flowers and fruits showing part 

 played by floral organs other than carpels in the formation of an accessory fruit. 

 Outer flesh of fruits consists of united bases of sepals, petals, and stamens: in 

 Chiogenes, adnata to enlarged ovary; in Gaultheria, free from ovary. (From Eames, 

 1953.) 



remain in the fruit after shedding. Dehiscence through the dorsal region 

 of the carpel — a break opening directly into the locule — is loculicidal, 

 and each carpel is split into halves; dehiscence ventrally through the 

 septa — the common walls of adjacent carpels — separating tlie individ- 

 ual carpels and opening along the carpel margins, is septicidal. These 

 two terms are commonly applied to syncarpous fruits. Free carpels, in 



