ENQUIRY INTO PLANTS, VIII. v. 2-4 



no divisions, 1 but the seeds as it were touch one 

 another, 2 as in vetch pea and most kinds, in some 

 there are divisions, 3 as in lupin and still more in 

 sesame, in which the divisions are of a peculiar 

 kind. 4 Again some have long, some round pods, as 

 chick-pea. And the number of seeds follows in 

 proportion, since they are fewer in the small pods, 

 as in those of chick-pea and lentil. 



Possibly these differences correspond to those 

 which we mentioned in the case of cereals as to the 

 ears and the actual fruits ; for what are called ' pods ' 

 also 5 fairly correspond to the shape of the seeds, 

 some being flat, as those of lentil and tare, some 

 more or less cylindrical, as those of vetch and pea 6 : 

 for in the case of either pair of plants the seeds 

 correspond in shape. However one might discover 

 and distinguish many such differences, of which 

 some are common to a whole kind, 7 others special to 

 particular varieties. 



In all cases the seeds are attached to the pods and 

 have a sort of starting-point, which in some cases 

 projects, as in bean and chick-pea, in some is 

 hollow, as in lupin and some others, and in some 

 is not thus conspicuous but smaller and, as it \vere, 

 only indicated ; this is plain from observation ; it is 

 from this point that the seeds germinate and take 

 root when they are sown, as was said 8 : but to start 

 with they are themselves nourished by being so 

 attached to the pod until they are matured. This 



5 i.e. as does the form of the ear in cereals. 



6 Kal rov irtffov- TO. yap conj. Seal, from Plin. I.e. and G ; rov 

 TTHTOV yhp ra UMAld. 



7 i.e. which either differentiate (e.g. ) pea from lentil, or one 

 variety of pea from another, cf. 8. 4. 2 n. 



8 8. 2. 1. 



175 



