SECT. 1. ORGANOGRAPHY AND GLOSSOLOGY. 



107 



We shall very briefly notice a few of the most im- 

 portant forms which fruits assume, hut cannot pretend 

 to enter into any details on so extensive a subject. Dr. 

 Lindley's " Introduction to Botany" may be advan- 

 tageously consulted for further information, and Gaert- 

 ner's invaluable works for the fullest details. 



SIMPLE PERICARPS. 



1. Follicle. Where the pericarp is dry, 114 

 and dehiscent only along the suture formed 



by the union of the edges of a foliaceous carpel, 

 it may be considered as composed of a single 

 valve : as in the monkshood (Aconitum napel- 

 lus), and larkspur (Delphinium consolida, 



2. Legume. This form is familiarly illus- 

 trated in the pericarps of peas and beans. In 



many cases, it presents a near approach to the leafy struc- 

 ture, and may be considered as a modified condition of the 

 leaf, folded longitudinally on its midrib, with the edges 

 adhering, and forming a suture (fig. 115. a). Another 



suture is also formed along the midrib or dorsal nerve, 

 so that the legume separates into two valves. In 

 some species, however, the sutures are so firmly closed, 

 that the legume becomes indehiscent. Its varieties 

 are very numerous. In the genus Astragalus, it is 



