GENERAL CHAEACTERS OF PLANTS 13 



4. The follicle, which S2)Uts on one side only, through the 

 placenta. 



5. All other fruits that split are termed capsules. Some of these 

 split longitudinally, some transversely, and others l)y forming pores 

 for the escape of the seeds. 



The chief kinds of indehiscent fruits are : — 



1. The drupe or stone-fruit, which consists of a hard stone 

 surroinided by a fleshy covering, as the plum and the cherry. 



2. The berry, which is soft and Heshy, and contains several seeds, 

 like the currant and the grape. 



3. The nut or achene — a fruit with hard and dry walls, as the 

 filbert and the acorn. 



4. The samara or winged fruit, like that of the sycamore. 

 Various modifications of these indehiscent fruits are to be met 



with ; thus, the blackberry is not really a berry, but a cluster 

 of little di'upes formed from a single pistU of many carjiels. A 

 berry, too, may be made up of many parts, as is the case with the 

 orange. The apple and similar fruits consist of a core (the true 

 fruit) smTOunded by a fleshy mass that is produced from the 

 receptacle of the flower ; and the strawberry is a succulent, enlarged 

 receptacle of the flower, with a number of little achenes (the true 

 fruits) on its surface. 



The seed, as we have already observed, is the emljryo plant. 

 It consists of one or more seed-leaves or cotyledons, a radicle or 

 yoinig root, and a plumule or young bud. In many cases the skin 

 of the seed encloses nothing more than the three parts of the embryo, 

 as named above ; but it sometimes contains, in addition, a quantity 

 of nutrient matter in the form of albumen, starch, oil, gum, or 

 other substance. 



Classification of Flowering Plants 



Our flowering plants are divided into two main groups, the 

 dicotyledons and the monocotyledons. These terms suggest that 

 the division is based on the nature of the seed, which is really the 

 case, but the groups are characterised by differences in other 

 parts. Thus, the plants which produce seeds with two cotyledons 

 may be known by the nature of the stem, which consists of a central 

 pith, surrounded by wood arranged in one or more rings, and the 

 whole enclosed in an outer epidermis or in a bark. These plants 

 also bear leaves with netted veins, and the parts of the flower are 



