XVI RUDIMENTS OF BOTANY. 



132. The bate of the fruit is the part where it is joined to the peduncle ; 

 the apex is where the remains of the style are found. 



133. The portion of the pistil called the ovary is in the ripe fruit termed 

 the pericarp. 



134. The pericarp consists of three parts, the outer coating called the epi- 

 carp or exocarp, the inner lining called the endocarp or putamen, and the 

 intermediate substance, which is generally fleshy or pulpy, named the sarco- 

 carp or mesocarp. Sometimes these three parts are readily distinguished, 

 as in the Peach ; but they frequently form one uniform substance, as in the 

 Nut. 



135. The axis of the fruit is often called columella ; the space where two 

 carpels unite is named the commissure. 



136. If the pericarp neither splits nor opens when ripe, it is said to be in- 

 detiiscent ; but if it does split or open, it is said to dehisce, or to be dehiscent ; 

 and the pieces into which it divides are termed valves. 



137. When a fruit is in its simplest state, or formed by the transformation 

 of one carpellary leaf, there may be two sutures or lines by which it may 

 open, the one where the margins of the leaf or the placentae meet, called the 

 ventral suture, the other at the part corresponding to the midrib of the leaf, 

 or the dorsal suture. 



138. If, in a compound fruit, the line of opening corresponds with the 

 junction of the carpels, the dehiscence is septicidal. Formerly in this kind 

 of dehiscence the valves were said to be alternate with the dissepiment. 



139. If the opening is by the dorsal suture of each carpel, the dehiscence 

 is loculicidal ; or as it was formerly said, the dissepiments are opposite to the 

 valves. 



140. When a separation of the pericarp takes place across the cells hori- 

 zontally, the dehiscence is tranverse or circumcisile. 



141. If the dehiscence is effected by partial openings of the pericarp, it is 

 said to take place by pares. 



142. All fruits are either simple or multiple ; the former proceeding from 

 a single flower, as the Apple, Nut, Strawberry, &c. : the latter formed out 

 of several flowers, as the Pine-apple, Pig, &c. 



143. Simple fruits are either indehiscent or dehiscent; of the former the 

 most important are the caryopsis, the utricle, the achenium and the drupe. 



144. The caryopsis, is where the pericarp is very thin and membranous, 

 and adheres firmly to the integument of the seed ; as in W T heat, Maize, and 

 most Grasses.^ 



145. The utricle is similar to the caryopsis, the pericarp being membra- 

 nous, but it has no adherence with the seed. 



146. The achenium, is a small and dry indehiscent one-seeded pericarp 

 formed of a single carpel ; as in Ranunculus and Anemone. The name is 

 also applied to one-seeded fruits formed of more than one carpel, and in- 

 vested by the calyx-tube ; as in the Composite. 



147. A drupe is a fleshy nut enclosed in a putamen ; as in the Cherry 

 and Peach. 



148. The nut contains a putamen, but the sarcocarp is coriaceous, instead 

 of being fleshy. A samara is a nut or achenium having a winged apex or 

 margin ; as in the Elm and Maple. 



