220 GLIMPSES I WTO PLAXT-IJFE 



This flower is known as apocarpous (^Jpo, apart, 

 karpos, fruit), consisting of a number of distinct 

 ovaries each with one ovule ; these ovaries when 

 ripe are exactly like the achenes of the buttercup, 

 but they are developed upon a receptacle which, 

 when fertilisation has taken place, begins to dilate 

 and swell, with the result that the little achenes 

 are gradually scattered over the surface of a large 

 fleshy receptacle which, as it nears its time of per- 

 fection, becomes of a most tempting crimson 

 colour. The little seed-like dots we notice on the 

 strawberry are distinct and perfect fruits embedded 

 in a sweet succulent floral receptacle. Thus we 

 find that the strawberry, speaking botanically, is 

 not a berry, but a collection of achenes, the term 

 " berry " being usually restricted to such fruits as 

 the currant and gooseberry. For this reason the 

 strawberry and the common fig are sometimes 

 termed spurious fruits, for in these the soft pulpy 

 flesh is really the receptacle and the little round 

 so-called seeds are the true fruit. 



There is a very different formation in the pine- 

 apple, since this fruit is the development of an 

 entire spike of flowers ; these in their early stage 



