STRUCTURE.] 



THE SEED. 



XXXVI. SOROSIS. (Sorosis, Mirb.) 



A spike or raceme converted into a fleshy fruit by the cohesion, in a single 

 mass, of the ovaria and floral envelopes. 

 Examples. Ananassa, Morus, Artocarpus. 



167 a 



\65b 



1(55. a,Drupa; b, vertical section, 

 section. 



166. Glans. 167. a, Pomum; 6, horizontal 



168. Strobilus. 



15. Of the Seed. 



The seed is a body enclosed in a pericarp, is clothed with 

 its own integuments, and contains the rudiment of a future 

 plant. It is the point of development at which vegetation 

 stops, and beyond which no increase, in the same direction 

 with itself, can take place. In a young state it has already 

 been spoken of under the name of ovule ; to which I also 

 refer for all that relates to the insertion of seeds. 



That side of a seed which is most nearly parallel with the 

 axis of a compound fruit, or the ventral suture or sutural 

 line of a simple fruit, is called the face, and the opposite side 

 the back. In a compound fruit with parietal placentae, the 

 placenta is to be considered as the axis with respect to the 

 seed ; and that part of the seed which is most nearly parallel 

 with the placenta, as the face. Where the raphe is visible, 

 the face is indicated by that. 



When a seed is flattened lengthwise it is said to be com- 

 pressed, when vertically it is depressed; a difference which it 

 is of importance to bear in mind, although it is not always 

 easy to ascertain it : for this purpose it is indispensable 

 that the true base and apex of the seed should be clearly 



