Cultural First Principles. 



By G. S. BOULGER, F.L.S., F.G.S., late Pkofessor ok Natural History in 

 THE Agricultural College, Cirencester. 



VlII.—FiiuiTS. 



(^Contimced from page 750.) 



The involucre of a collection of flowers, or inflorescence, may either 

 fall off, when it is termed deciduous, or remain whilst the fruit ripens, 

 when it is termed persistent. As a collection of flowers on one stalk 

 is called an inflorescence, a similar collection of fruits is termed an 

 infrutcscence. As in my last paper, I will consider (uigiospcrmous fruits 

 apart from those of the conifers or " gymnosperms." Like the 

 involucre, the perianth or floral envelopes may be either deciduous or 

 persistent ; hut the stamens always shrivel up or fall off after 

 discharging their pollen. It is the central whorl or collection of 

 modified floral leaves, or carpels, which form the essential fruit-forming 

 element of the flower. From them are formed the capsule of the 

 poppy or the foxglove, the pod of the pea and bean group, and the 

 " keys " of the maple, sycamore, and ash. 



Let us examine more minutely the fruits of our forest trees. 



That of the Lime is a globular, fleshy, nut-like body, made up of 

 several carpels, but seldom containing more than two mature seeds. 

 As it is indchiscent, i. e., does not split open, it is technically inaccurate 

 to call it a capsule ; as the calyx is below the ovary, or inferior, i. e., 

 does not adhere to its sides as in the gooseberry, it may not be called 

 a berry; as there are several united carpels it is not a drupe. It agrees 

 most nearly with the fruits of the grape and the nightshades, and is 

 technically called a nuculaniuiin. 



The " berry " of the Holly belongs strictly also to this group of 

 fruits, but is often called a drupe. The little black points at the top 

 of the fruit, like those in an orange, are the dried remains of the 

 persistent stigma, and must not be confounded with those on the top 

 of a gooseberry, currant, or apple, which are the remains of the 

 persistent calyx, and mark an inferior fruit, — not in quality, but in 

 morphological or structural classification. 



The beautiful rose-coloured fruit of ihe Spindle-tree, — 



" That in our autumn woodlands looks a flower," 



as Tennyson says, is a true capside, since it is dehiscent, i. e., splits 

 when ripe. 

 VOL. I. 3 m: 



