CHAPTER VIII 



FRUITS AND SEEDS 



The Fruit. This term is strictly applied to the ripened ovary 

 and its contents or in some cases to the ovary and its contents 

 plus the other parts of the flower that have united with it. The 

 character of the fruit depends on the various combinations of 

 ovaries and other parts, number of ovaries .and seeds and texture 

 of ovary walls. Therefore, we have many types of fruits, some 

 of which may be very similar in general appearance but very 

 different technically. Fruits may be divided into two groups, 



FIG. 79. Types of fleshy fruits; (a) drupe, (6) collective drupe, (c) multiple drupe, 

 (d) pome, (e) berry. 



which are described by their names, fleshy fruits and dry fruits. 

 The wall of the ovary of many of the fleshy fruits may be divided 

 into three parts: (1) the exocarp or outside layer, which is usu- 

 ally an epidermal covering; (2) the mesocarp or middle layer, 

 which is composed of parenchyma tissue, is usually very thick 

 and sometimes very juicy ; and (3) the endocarp or inside layer, 

 which may be stony, as in the peach, or papery, as in the 

 apple (Fig. 79). 



Some authors use only two terms : the exocarp, for both the 

 outside covering and the fleshy parts, and the. endocarp, for the 

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