mirbel's classification of feuits. 



85 



The ovary is 



plants; it is turbinate (Fig. 99, a). Its surface is pubescent 

 and furrowed ; indehiscent, monospcrmous ; the egret (c) is ses- 

 sile and plumose, and the embryo is dicoti/ledonous and fleshy. It 

 is attached to the pericarp by the podosperm. At b is repre- 

 sented this pericarp cut longitudinally, and exposing an inner 

 half of one of the cotyledons. In this genus are the pericarps of 

 the dandelion, the salsify or oyster-plant, lettuce, &c. 2d. Cerion 

 {Cari/opsis, kernel); in this genus the embryo is situated upon the 

 side of the pcrisj^erm, or albumen ; cotyledon one, large and ilurihy. 

 clothed with a pileole ;* the radicles are contained m colcorhizes. It is subrotund, as 

 Indian corn ; oblong, as wheat ; rostrate, as in some of the grasses. 3d. Carcenda (in- 

 cludkig what some call the utricle, others the sa77iara); the characters of tliia 

 genus are variable ; it includes all fruits of the order Carcerulares, which do not 

 come within the two preceding genera ; the buckwheat, elm, and rhubarb are ex- 

 amples. 



91. Order 2d. Capsulares, simple fruits, having capsules wliich open when in a 

 matm'e state ; they have their origin from a single ovary, free, or adhering to the 

 calyx ; they have valves, and consequently sutures, and open by the separation of 

 the valves. 1st. Capsule signifies a little chest or casket ; it is a hollow pericarp, which 

 opens spontaneously by pores, as tlie poppy, or by valves, as the pink. The inter- 

 nal divisions of the capsule are called cells ; these are the chambers appropriated 

 for the reception of the seeds ; according to the number of these cells, the capsule 

 is one-celled, two-celled, &c. The membranes by which the capsule is divided into 

 cells, are called dissepiments, or partitions ; these partitions are either parallel to 

 the valves, or contrary. The columella is the central pillar in a capsule, and is the 

 part which connects the several internal partitions with the seed ; it takes its rise 

 from the receptacle, and has the seed fixed to it on all its sides. In one-celled 

 capsules the columella is wanting. Fig. 100 represents a cap- 

 sular fruit ; it is the seed of the martagon-lily {Lilium marta- 

 gon) ; a represents the capsule open, as it appears in a mature 

 state ; b, the same cut transversely, showing the seeds. All 

 capsular fruits wliich do not belong to the other genera in 

 this order, are here included. They are monocephalous, as 

 in the lily ; or polycephalous, as in Nigella. 2d. The Legiime 

 is an irregular, bivalve, elongated pericarp ; it is monocepha- 

 lous and free ; the two valves joined by two sutures, an up- 

 per and lower ; the seeds are attached only to one suture or 

 seam, as in the pea. In this circumstance it differs from the 

 silique, which has its seeds attached to both sutures ; it con- 

 tains seeds in one cell, a placenta along the lower suture. 

 The embryo has two cotyledons ; the radicle is attached to 

 the hilum. The legume is saber-form in the bean, cylindric in the Cassia, com- 

 pound in the pea, and articulated in Hedysarum, where it is called a loment The 

 word pod is used in common language for both these species of pericarp. Plants 

 which produce the legume, are called leguminous. The greater number of these 

 plants are in the class Diadelphia. The tamarind is a legume filled with pulp, in 

 which the seeds are lodged. Fig. 101, a, represents the 

 fruit of the Astragalus; cell inflated, longitudinal; at b is 

 the same legume cut transversely, to show the two cells. 

 3d. The Silique is a bivalved pericarp, peculiar to the Cru- 

 ciferce; it is divided by a longitudinal partition, formed 

 by the dilated placenta, and bearing the seeds, which are 

 attached alternately to its opposite edge, as in the mustard 

 and radish. The proper silique is two-celled, being furnish- 

 ed with a partition wliich runs the whole length of "this kmd 

 of pericarp ; there are some exceptions to this, as in tlie cel- 

 andine. The Silicle (Silicicla, a little pod) is distinguished 

 by being shorter than the silique, as in the pepper-grass, 



* For an illustration of these terms see plate 121, with its explanation. 



Fi-. 101. 



91. Ordej- Capsulares, with its genera. 



