FRUITS 



53 



flowers. From what you have observed, make up a definition of a pepo fruit. 

 Draw a cross section of the squash, natural size. 



Berry. — A gardener or vegetable vender rarely calls a tomato a berry. 

 Tomatoes, however, are considered excellent examples of this type of 

 fruit. ^ In botanical language, a berry is any pulpy, juicy mass containing 

 seeds, this mass inclosed in a rather tough but thin covering, as a rind or 

 skin. In popular language, a berry is any small round edible fruit con- 

 taining small seeds. 



Drupe. — Another fleshy fruit 

 is the drupe or stone fruit. This 

 is illustrated by the peach or cherry. 

 In the drupe a juicy interior is sur- 

 ^ rounded by a skin; the center of 

 the fruit is occupied by a stone 

 which contains the seed. This 

 stony covering is made up of the 

 inner wall of the pericarp (ovary 

 wall) which has separated from the 

 part which forms the flesh of the 

 fruit. The connection between 

 these two layers is well seen in a 

 clingstone peach or a very young 

 cherry. 



Classify as many of the follow- 

 ing named fruits as you can : plum, 

 apricot, egg plant, watermelon, 

 lemon, pomegranate, cranberry, 

 black haw, pear, date, olive. Make 

 up your classification in tabular 

 form. 



T>v T^ ', K ^ r -J. The cherry ; a stone fruit or drupe. 



Dry Fruits. — A dry iruit 

 may split open to allow the escape of seeds. The pea is an exam- 

 ple. Such a fruit is said to be dehiscent.^ Study an open pea pod. 

 When it splits, it separates along both edges of the two sides or 

 valves. Such a fruit is called a legume. 



Follicle. — If the ovary splits along one edge of a valve only, the 

 fruit is called a follicle. The milkweed pod is an example. 



Capsule. — When the ovary forming the fruit is compound, the 

 ovary having several locules, it is said to be a capsule. 



1 For laboratory work on the tomato, see Hunter and Valentine, Manual, page 71. 



2 For laboratory exercises on dry dehiscent fruits, see Hunter and Valentine, 

 Manual, pages 66, 67, 68. 



