74 



sys'ii:MAri(' pomolocy 



one seed; each hears the iciiiains of a style; all ai'c iiuh'hiscent ; 

 and the seed in all is sui-i-onnded hy llesh of similar composition. 

 The core of these a'T'rregate frnils is the enlarjifed receptacle; 

 it remains on the plant in the rasphern', and comes away with 

 the fruit in the hlackherry and dewberry. The fruits of bram- 

 bles, therefore, are not berries as botanists em])loy the term; 

 liowever, fruit-g:rowers called them berries long before botanists 

 chose the woi*d for another form of fruit, and its use in the i)omo- 

 logical sense ri^ditfully j)ersists (Fig. 40). 



113. Adherence to the recep- 

 tacle. — The di-upclets in the 

 raspberry hold strongly to the 

 receptacle in some varieties and 

 part readily in others, conditions 

 of little moment to the systema- 

 tist but of considerable conse- 

 quence to those who pick the 

 crop. Similarly, it must be 

 known of every variety of black- 

 berry how well the fruit clings 

 to the pedicel ; it should not 

 cling too tightly nor, on the 

 other hand, drop too readily as 

 the crop ripens. When the 

 drupelets of brambles do not adhere to each other well, the ber- 

 ries crumble. Crumbling varies greatly in different berries and 

 is of prime importance in marketing the crop, as crumbly ber- 

 ries are unattractive and do not ship well. 



The size, texture, and color of the receptacle, commonly 

 called the core, must be considered in describing blackberries 

 and dewberries. The core may be larr/e or smally hard or soft, 

 each pair of alternatives connoting possible differences in value 

 of the fruit. The core is usually white but may be pink or 

 tinged with red, in either of which cases the color is a valuable 

 varietal characteristic. In shape it may be cylindrical or coni- 

 cal, long or short; sometimes its sides are convex, sometimes 

 concave. 



114. Size, shape, and color of berries are of great impor- 

 tance, both in classification and in practical fruit-growing. The 



Fig. 40. Lengthwise-section of a 

 red raspberry, a. drupelet ; b. 

 seed ; c. receptacle : d. calyx- 

 lobe. 



