THE FRUIT 147 



compartment. (8) Tlie halves (valves) of the seed case are separated 

 nearly to the middle, cohering only by their basal portions. (9) The 

 edges of the inner, bony seed cases curve in somewhat, as if com- 

 pressed. (lU) Try to tit the seeds back into the cases. Are the cases 

 large enough to cover the seeds ? 



The fruit of Witch-hazel is a projectile apparatus. As the valves 

 open wider and wilder, in the process of drying, the seeds are squeezed 

 more and more by the shrinkage of the bony layer and the incurving 

 of the valve edges.. At a certain point, the intensity and direction of 

 pressure become such that the seed is shot out with much force — 

 enough force, under the most favorable conditions, to carry the seed 

 to a distance of forty or fifty feet. 



Draw whatever is necessary to illustrate your notes on this fruit. 



XIV. THE FRUIT 



311. Nature of the fruit. — The mature ovary is the 

 Fruit. In the strictest sense the fruit is the seed vessel, 

 teclmically named the Pericarp. But practically it may 

 include other parts organically connected with the peri- 

 carp. The calyx especiall}^, or a part of it, is often in- 

 corporated with the ovary, so as to be indistinguishably 

 a portion of the pericarp. The receptacle forms, along 

 with the calyx, the whole bulk of such edible fruits as 

 Apples and Pears. The receptacle is an obvious part in 

 Blackberries (see Fig. 256), and is the whole edible por- 

 tion in the strawberry. 



312. A cluster of distinct carpels may, also, in ripening, 

 be consolidated or compacted, so as practically to be taken 

 for one fruit. Such are Raspberries, Blackberries, etc. 

 Moreover, the ripened product of many flowers may be 

 compacted or grown together so as to form a single com- 

 pound fruit. 



THE KINDS OF FRUITS 



313. In respect to composition, fruits may be classified 

 into 



Simple^ those which result from the ripening of a single 

 pistil, and consist only of the matured ovary, either by 

 itself, as in a Peach (Fig. 255), or with the receptacle and 



