SECT. II. APPENDAGES OF THE FRUIT. 137 



covers it only partially, the fruit is then said to be 

 veiled, as in that of the Hazel, which is veiled by 

 the calyx ; or of the Yew-tree, which is veiled by 

 the receptacle. 



The fruit of Cyamus Nelumbo, which is also 

 veiled by the receptacle, presents a very curious 

 and singular spectacle in its ripened state ; the re- 

 ceptacle, which is of an inversely conical figure with 

 a broad and flat base, being excavated into a num- 

 ber of small and hollow cells, in each of which is 

 lodged a seed or nut protruding by its upper ex- 

 tremity through the orifice of Its cell, and thus con- 

 sequently veiled. But at the period of the maturity 

 of the seed this curious and singular receptacle, 

 laden with fruit, separates from its supporting stalk, 

 and floats down the stream in which it grew ; the 

 seeds often germinating, and the young' plants 

 shooting as it floats along, giving the whole a slight 

 or fancied resemblance to a Cornucopia. And 

 hence, perhaps, the origin of its mythological 

 celebrity, having been regarded among ancient and 

 eastern nations as the emblem of fertility.* 



Some ovaries, in other respects naked, are coated Bloom. 

 with a peculiar sort of substance, called the bloom 

 of the fruit ; this is very distinctly observable in 

 most species of Plum, resembling a fine powder 

 sprinkled over the surface of the fruit, and very often 

 tinged with a shade of delicate blue. If viewed 

 through a microscope, while yet attached to the 

 * Smith's Exot. Bot. No. 7, 

 8 



