S6 



mirbel's classification of fruits. 



Fi^. 103. 



This difference in the form of the sihque and silicle is Fig- ^02, 



the foundation of tlie distinction in the orders of the 



chass Tetradynamia, Fig. 10*2, a, represents a .si- 



licjue, the fruit of the sinapis alba (white mustard) ; 



it L3 rostrate ; b rei^resents a globular seed ; c, the 



same magnified ; d shows the seed separating, and 



the embryo making its appearance. 4th. The Pi/xidrs 



(from ptixis, a box) have two valves, an iipper and 



lower ; the latter is attached to the receptacle, while the 



former opens hke the lid of a box, as seen in Lecythis. Fig. 



103, a, represents the lower valve ; 6, the upper valve 



or lid of the pericarp. To this genus belong the fruit of 



the Anagalis, Hyosciamiis, and Gomphrena globosa, or 



bachelor's button. 



92. Order 3d. Dieresilia (from dicercsis, divison) con- 

 tains simple fruits, which divide into many carpels ranged symmetrically round a 

 central axis. These carj)els are formed by the adhering valves of the pericarp, 

 which in the maturity of the fruit separates, and the carpels appear like so many 

 little nuts ; as in the seed of the nasturtion, which easily falls into parts. 1st. Cremo- 

 carp (from kremao, to suspend, and karpos, fruit) ; this kind of fruit derives its 

 origin from an ovary surmounted with two styles, and often crowned by the limb 

 of the calyx. It has two cells and two seeds. It divides itself into two seeds, 

 suspended"^ by their summit to a slender central axis, usually two-forked. Each 

 seed contains a depending embryo, clothed with a membraneous and adhering teg- 

 men, and having a horny perisperm. The embryo is very small, and has two cotyl- 

 edons. The coriander is a spherical cremocarp ; the caraway is ellipsoid. The seeds 

 of the carrot and parsley and other iimbelliferous plants belong to this genus. 2d. The 

 Rcgmates (from regma, opening with noise) contain many seeds which are inclosed 

 by two valves opening by an elastic movement, as 

 Euphorbia. Fig. 10-i represents a pericarp of the 

 Euphorbia, consisting of four carpels ; — in the ripe 

 fruit, the panextern, or outer covering, is thrown 

 off by an elastic movement of the valves ; a repre- 

 sents the entire fruit, and b the same cut trans- 

 versely, showing the four seeds. 3d. Dieresil,* a 

 variable genus, contains such fruits in the order 

 as do not properly come under the two other di- 

 visions, as the nasturtion, geranium, hollyhock, <fec. 



93. Order 4th. Etaironnaires (from eto.iroi, associates) contain compound fruits 

 proceeding from ovaries bearing the styles ; this order has two genera. These 

 fruits offer many irregular pericarps which do not adhere to the calyx. The 

 Capsular fruits show the commencement of the separation of cells ; the Dieresi- 

 lian fruits show this separation complete in the pericarp divided into many nuts 

 after coming to maturity ; the fruits of the Etaironnair order show this separa- 

 tion from the earliest stage of the pistil. There is a gradual passing from one 

 order to another, showing the existence of natural relations under the great di- 

 versity of forms. Ist. Follicle \s a one-valved pericarp opening longitudinally on 

 one side and having its seed loose within, or not affixed to the 

 suture, as in the dog's-bane (Apocynum), which has a double fol- 

 licle, and in the milk-weed (Asclepias). 2d. Etairon,^ having 

 many seeds ranged round the imaginary axis of the flower, as the 

 ranunculus and anemone. 



Fig. 105 represents the fruit of the Aconitum (monk's-hood) ; 

 it is composed of three pods united in one compound fruit ; a 

 shows one of the valves in a dehiscent state ; b represents a seed 

 cut longitudinally. The Clematis is a caudate etairon ; the 

 Pceonia is divergent and dehiscent. 



* The samara of Gaertner. 



+ The syncarp of Richard. 



02. Order Diereisilia, with its genera.— 93. Order Etaironnaires, with ite genera. 



