STRUCTURE.] PARTS OF THE FRUIT. 3 



pomegranate after the ovary is fertilised ; and many other 

 cases might be mentioned. 



Every fruit consists of two principal parts, the pericarp and 

 the seed, the latter being contained within the former. When 

 the ovary is inferior, or coheres with the calyx, the latter and 

 the pericarp are usually so completely united as to be inse- 

 parable and undistinguishable : in such cases it is usual to 

 speak of the pericarp without reference to the calyx, as if no 

 such union had taken place. Botanists call a fruit, the peri- 

 carp of which adheres to the calyx, an inferior fruit (fructus 

 inferus) ; and that which does not adhere to the calyx, a 

 superior fruit (fructus superus). But Desvaux has coined 

 other words to express these ideas : a superior fruit he calls 

 autocarpic ; an inferior fruit, heterocarpic ; terms unnecessary 

 and unworthy of adoption. 



Everything which in a ripe fruit is on the outside of the 

 real integuments of the seed, except the aril, belongs to the 

 pericarp. It consists of three different parts, the epicarp t 

 the sarcocarp, and the endocarp ; terms contrived by Richard, 

 and useful in practice. 



The epicarp is the external integument or skin ; the endo- 

 carp, called putamen by Gsertner, the inner coat or shell ; 

 and the sarcocarp, the intermediate flesh. Thus, in the peach, 

 the separable skin is the epicarp, the pulpy flesh the sarco- 

 carp, and the stone the endocarp or putamen. In the apple 

 and pear the epicarp is formed by the cuticle of the calyx, 

 and the sarcocarp is confluent with the remainder of the 

 calyx in one fleshy body. 



The pericarp is extremely diversified in size and texture, 

 varying from the dimension of a single line in length to the 

 magnitude of two feet in diameter ; and from the texture of a 

 delicate membrane to the coarse fabric of wood itself, through 

 various cartilaginous, coriaceous, bony, spongy, succulent, or 

 fibrous gradations. 



The base of the pericarp is the part where it unites with 

 the peduncle ; its apex is where the style was : hence the 

 organic and apparent apices of the fruit are often very 

 different, especially in such as have the style growing from 



