vii.] THE FRUIT. 87 



flower, but from a number of flowers. On this ground it 

 may be distinguished as a collective fruit. All fruits 

 which result from more flowers than one are collective 

 fruits. We have examples in the cones of the Pine, 

 Larch, and Cedar, in the Pine-apple, and the fruit of the 

 Fig. A fig you can easily get for examination. If cut 

 across, it appears to be filled with small dry seeds 

 enclosed in a succulent pericarp. But such is not really 



FIG. 61. Staminate flower of FIG. 62. Pistillate flower of 



the Fig. same. 



the case. The woodcuts show the staminate and pistil- 

 late flowers of the Fig. In order to observe them you 

 must gather a fig while young and green. You will then 

 find that the inside of the fig is thickly crowded, not with 

 ovules, but with these minute, monochlamydeous flowers ; 

 the pistillate flowers usually occupying the greater part 

 or the whole of the cavity. It follows, therefore, that the 

 pulpy portion, which forms the mass of the fig, is a 

 common receptacle, deeply concave and nearly closed at 

 the top, bearing numerous flowers upon its surface. If 

 you have the opportunity, compare with the fig the "hip' 1 

 of a Rose. Although rather similar at first sight, they are 

 essentially different. The fruit of the Rose results from a 

 single flower, the "calyx-tube" of which becomes more 

 or less succulent, and usually red in autumn. Inside are 

 the separate, dry achenes, which must not be mistaken 

 for seeds. The fruit of the Rose is analogous to that of 



