CHAPTER IX 

 FRUITS 



92. The families. The majority of our cultivated fruits 

 belong to the rose family (Rosacese), whose name suggests 

 the general character of its flowers, with their more or less 

 showy petals and numerous stamens (Fig. 62). One divi- 

 sion of the family includes in a single genus (Prunus) 

 peaches, apricots, plums, and cherries, which are " stone 

 fruits " or " drupes." In this kind of fruit the outer part 

 of the ovary becomes fleshy and the inner part stony, the 

 seed being the kernel within the stone (" pit ") (Fig. 63). 

 In the case of the almond, the outer layer ripens dry instead 

 of fleshy and splits off, freeing the large and softish stone, 

 whose kernel (the seed) is eaten. 



Another division of the family includes in a single genus 

 (Pyrus) apples, pears, and quinces, whose fruits are " pomes." 

 In this case the flesh consists of the thickened calyx tube 

 which becomes consolidated with the ovary (" core ") (Fig. 

 64). The edible part of the fruit, therefore, is the calyx 

 tube, while in stone fruits it is the ovary wall. 



The third and largest division of the family, to which the 

 roses themselves belong, includes strawberries, raspberries, 

 and blackberries. The strawberry is really a fleshy recep- 

 tacle on which numerous minute pistils (the " pits ") are 

 borne (Fig. 65) ; wh'ile raspberries and blackberries are clus- 

 ters of small fruits resembling minute stone fruits. In the 

 raspberry the cluster of fruits slips from the receptacle like 

 a cap (Fig. 66) ; while in the blackberry the cluster and the 

 receptacle become fleshy together. 



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