FRUIT OR MATURE PISTIL. 249 



to increase the size of the flowers, to improve their colour, to render 

 tender plants hardy, and to heighten the flavour of fruits. Herbert 

 thinks, from what he saw in Amaryllides, that in hybrids the flowers 

 and organs of reproduction partake of the characters of the female 

 parent, while the foliage and habit, or the organs of vegetation, resem- 

 ble the male. 



519. This subject is important as connected with the origin and 

 limitation of species. If, as some of the old authors believed, there 

 were only a few species originally formed, and all the rest are the result 

 of hybridization, there appears to be no limit to species, and no perma- 

 nence in their characters. This, however, is not borne out by facts ; 

 the generally received opinion being, that types of all the species now 

 in existence were originally placed on the globe, and that these have 

 given origin to an offspring like themselves, capable of reproducing 

 the species. Hybrids, on the other hand, are rare in a wild state, and 

 they are seldom permanent and fertile. Even where they are so, there 

 seems to be a tendency in the offspring to return to one or other of 

 the original types from which they sprung. 



6. FRUIT, OR THE PISTIL, ARRIVED AT MATURITY. 



520. After fertilization, various changes take place in the parts of 

 the flower. Those more immediately concerned in the process, the 

 anther and stigma, rapidly wither and decay, while the filaments and 

 style often remain for some time ; the floral envelopes also become dry, 

 the petals fall, and the sepals are either deciduous or remain persistent 

 in an altered form ; the ovary becomes enlarged, forming the pericarp 

 (-7ft $, around, and KX^OS, fruit) ; and the ovules are developed as the 

 seeds containing the embryo-plant. The term fruit is strictly applied 

 to the mature pistil or ovary, with the seeds in its interior. But it 

 often includes other parts of the flower, such as the bracts and floral 

 envelopes. Thus, the fruit of the Hazel and Oak consists of the ovary 

 and bracts and calyx combined ; that of the Apple, Pear, and Goose- 

 berry, of the ovary and calyx; and that of the Pine-apple, of the ovaries 

 and floral envelopes of several flowers combined. Fruits formed by 

 the ovaries alone, as the Plum and the Grape, seem to be more liable 

 to drop off and suffer from iuifavourable weather, than those which have 

 the calyx entering into their composition, as the Gooseberry, the Melon, 

 and the Apple. 



521. In general, the fruit is not ripened unless fertilization has been 

 effected ; but cases occur in which the fruit swells, and becomes to all 

 appearance perfect, while no seeds are produced. Thus, there are 

 seedless Oranges, Grapes, and Pine-apples. "When the seeds are abor- 

 tive, it is common to see the fruit wither and not come to maturity; but 

 in the case of Bananas, Plantains, and Bread-fruit, the non-develop- 



