THE FRUIT. 81 



ly to be distinguished from the peduncle ; but in compound 

 iiowers it is expanded, and furnishes a support for the liowera 

 and fruit. Kecej^tacles are of various kinds, as : Projoei\ which 

 supports but one flower, as in the violet and lily. Common^ 

 which suj)ports many florets, the assemblage of w-hich forms an 

 aggregate or compound flower, as in the sunflower and dande- 

 lion. The common receptacle presents a great variety of forms , 

 as, concave^ convex^ flat^ conical .^ or sjplierical. In the fig it is 

 concave, and constitutes the fruit. As to its surface, the recep- 

 tacle is punctate^ as in the daisy ; hairy ^ as in the thistle ; nahecl^ 

 as in the dandelion ; chaffy^ as in the chamomile. It is pulpy in 

 the strawberry, but dry in most plants. Racliis is the filiform 

 receptacle which connects the florets in a sj)ike, as in a head of 

 wheat. 



We shall, in our next lecture, proceed to consider the change which takes pla#B 

 after the bloom and beauty of tlie plant have faded. We shall find organs, at first 

 scarcely perceptible, beguming to develop themselves, untU the character of the 

 fruit is fully exhibited. So, in the heart of youth, the germs of virtue or vice may, 

 for a while, be apparently dormant and inactive, but growing more vigorous and 

 powerful, they at length unfold themselves, and reveal either a character matured 

 into wliat is lovely and desirable, or marked with qualities of a disagreeable and 

 deleterious nature. 



LECTUKE XY. 



THE FRUIT. PERICARP. PARTS OF THE PERICARP. MIRBEL S CLASSI- 

 FICATION OF FRUITS. 



The Fruit. 



86. The fruit is composed of two principal parts, the pe7'iGarp 

 and seed. The term pericarp (from peri^ around, ka/pos^ fruit) 

 signifies, surrounding the seed. All, in any fruit, which is not 

 the seed, belongs to the pericarp. 



Let us now inquire into the progress of the fruit from its first 

 appearance in the germ to its mature state. On cutting the 

 ovary horizontally, we see minute bodies of a pale-green color 

 and an apparently homogeneous nature : each of these is called 

 an ovule. These ovules, before the fertilization of the germ by 

 the pollen, are scarcely perceptible ; after this period, and the 

 fading of the corolla, the ovules increase in size, and the em- 

 bryo and other parts which constitute the seed become manifest. 

 The ovary enlarges vnth the growth of the ovules ; the use of 

 this covering is not confined to the mere protection of the seeds 



What is the proper receptacle ?— What the common ?— What is the rachis ?— Reflection.— 86. Fsiiit 

 the two principal parts— Deri \.itiou and signification of the word pericarp — Ovary — Ovules. 



4* 



