XIV 



CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS IN GENERAL 



IT is difficult to define a fruit -in exact 

 terms. The botanist has a definition, but it 

 is not just the same as the horticulturist's 

 definition. In general, we**may .sum up the 

 horticultural notion by saying that a fruit is 

 an edible, more or less fleshy portion of a 

 plant, in its development intimately con- 

 nected with the seed. Sometimes it is the 

 seed itself, as in the walnut ; sometimes it is 

 the swollen ovary, as in the plum ; sometimes 

 it is the fleshy calyx adhering to the ovary, as 

 in the apple. 



The names of fruits in common language 

 are really generic classificatory terms. Such 

 names as peach, nectarine, apricot, almond, 

 etc., designate rather considerable classes of 

 fruits. While such names are usually fairly 

 clear in common usage, it is sometimes diffi- 

 cult, in critical cases, to say just what is a 

 plum and just what is a cherry. The shrub 

 commonly called the western sand cherry 

 (Prunus pumila besseyi) has often been 



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