I36 THE FLOWERING PLANT. 



are strawberry, rose-hip, apple (and pear), and acorn. The edible 

 part of a strawberry is the dilated floral receptacle, and the 

 "seeds" scattered over it are the true fruits. Similarly, the 

 scarlet part of a hip, to which the sepals are still attached, is 

 obviously the hollow receptacle of the perigynous flower. Within 

 it will be found the true fruits. An apple presents an advance 

 on this condition. At the end opposite the stalk will be found 

 the withered remains of the sepals, and sometimes of the stamens. 

 The syncarpous ovary of an apple-flower is half inferior, i.e., 

 with its lower half fused to the receptacle. It forms the apple- 

 core (its seeds being the " pips "), while the flesh belongs to the 

 receptacle. This kind of fruit is a pome. 



Strictly speaking, all inferior ovaries develop into spurious 

 fruits, since a part of them is receptacle (cf. p. 101). The union, 

 however, between ovary and receptacle is so intimate that they 

 are mostly classed under true fruits, e.g., gooseberry. It is 

 just here that the distinction between the two kinds breaks 

 down. In acorn we have a single true fruit, partly surrounded 

 by a cup-like structure formed by the growth and union of 

 bracts. 



II. True Fruits. — These are mainly (inferior fruits) or entirely 

 (superior fruits) formed from the developed ovary. Their walls 

 are termed the pericarp, and are often divisible into outer, 

 middle, and inner layers, known as epicarp (often the epidermis), 

 mesocarp and endocarp respectively. The subdivisions of true 

 fruits are best shown in a tabular form. 



A. Dry Fruits. — Pericarp woody or tough. 



1. Indehiscent. — Pericarp encloses seeds till germination. 

 Seed-coat thin, and often fused with pericarp. 

 a. One-seeded. 



(a.) Ackene, of one carpel, superior, pericarp 

 membranous, and free from seed-coat. Ex. 

 Buttercup (fig. 56), strawberry. 

 (b.) Caryopsis. — Like (a), but usually of two 

 carpels, and pericarp closely adherent to 

 seed-coat. Ex. All grasses, as wheat, 

 maize, oat, &c. (fig. 54). 

 (c.) Gypsela. — Like (b), but inferior. Ex. All 

 fig. 56.— Achene Composites, as sunflower, dandelion, &c. 



o u tercup. qj ^ Nut, syncarpous, superior, pericarp woody, 



and free from seed-coat. Ex. Hazel-nut 

 (two ovules always present in ovary. 

 This accounts for occasional existence of 

 two kernels.) 



