168 REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. CHAP. III. 



now to shrink and separate, detaching themselves 

 from one another hy the whole of their connected 

 surface, and thus forming a passage for the dis- 

 charge of the seeds. 



SUBSECTION II, 



Defini- The Seed. The seed is the last and most noble 

 part of the fruit contained within the pericarp, and 

 containing the rudiments of a new plant, similar 

 to that from which it has sprung. In the Pea and 

 Bean it is that part of the fruit which is eaten. In 

 the Apple it is that part which is rejected, and lodged 

 within the core. 



Figure. The figure of the seed, like that of the fruit and 

 flower, is very much diversified ; but it is often glo- 

 bular, as in the Pea ; or egg-shaped, as in Alope- 

 curus ; or oblong, as in Valerian; or cylindrical, 

 as in Pinguicula ; or angular, as in Cyclamen ; or 

 heart-shaped, as in Viscum ; or kidney-shaped, as 

 in Galium ; or crescent-shaped, as in Hydrocotyle ; 

 or lenticular, as in Linum ; or acuminate, as in 

 Herniaria ; or emarginate, as in Peucedanum. 



Size. The size of the seed is also very much diversi- 



fied, but Gaertner has established four cardinal 

 sizes, to which the rest may be referred as to a 

 standard.* 1st, The first size includes all seeds 

 exceeding an inch in diameter, whether in length 

 or breadth, as in Lontarus maldivica, and the 

 Cocoa-nut : such seeds are of the first magnitude,, 

 * Gaert. De Sem. IntrocL 



