q8 fruit. [chap. 



In Pea, Dhak, Star Anise, Unona, and other apocarpous 

 pistils, the carpels of which contain several ovules inserted 

 upon the ventral suture, the placentation may be described 

 as stihiral The sutural placentation of apocarpous pistils 

 is, of course, essentially the same as the axile placentation 

 of syncarpous pistils. 



2 2. The structure of the Fruit deserves careful attention, 

 especially as there is scarcely any part of the plant more 

 liable to be misunderstood. We must learn from what 

 part or parts of the flower the fruit results, and how to 

 distinguish fruit from seed, for some common fruits are 

 constantly misnamed seeds, and sometimes seeds are mis- 

 taken for fruits. 



Seeds are almost invariably contained in a seed-vessel 

 called the pericarp, and the pericarp may consist either of 

 the ripened ovary only, or, if the ovary be inferior, of the 

 calyx-tube combined with the ovary. 



In the case of Ranunculus, and most plants with apocarp- 

 ous pistils, the fruit consists of as many distinct carpels as 

 there were carpels in the pistil of the flower. Each carpel 

 contains one or more ovules in flower, and one or more 

 seeds in fruit. The pistil we call apocarpous, and the same 

 term applies to the fruit. In like manner we may apply the 

 term syncarpous to all fruits which result from syncarpous 

 pistils. 



23. Now the changes which take place during the ripening 

 of the fruit are very simple indeed in Ranunculus compared 

 with those which take place in many other plants. We find 

 often that an ovary with several cells in the flower is but one- 

 celled in fruit, and that many ovules present in the flower are 

 sometimes sacrificed during the perfecting of a single seed. 

 Take the acorn of any Oak for example. When ripe it con- 

 tains but one cell and one seed ; but if the ovary be cut 



