LESSON 20.] 



MULTIPLK FliUITS. 



133 



3(51. The Silique (Fig. .'310), the peculiar imhI of tlic Miistanl rarii- 

 ily ; whicli is two-celled by u false partition slrelclied across bclwceii 

 two parietal placeiitie. It generally opens by two valves 

 from below upwards, and the placentie with the {iartition 

 are left behind when the valves fall off. 



302. A Silicic or Pouch is only a short and broad silique, 

 like that of the Slicpherd's Purse, of the Candy-tuft, &c. 



303. The Pyxis is a pod which opens by a circular hori- 



zontal line, the upper part forming a lid, as 

 in Purslane (Fig. 311), the Plantain, Hen- 

 bane, &:c. In these the dehiscence extends 

 all round, or is circumcissile. So it does 

 in Fig. 21)8, which represents a sort of one- 3'" 

 seeded pyxis. In Jeffersonia or Twin-leaf, the line 

 does not separate quite round, but leaves a portion 

 to form a hinge to the lid. 

 3G4. Multiple or Collective Fruits (331) are, properly speaking, 

 masses of I'niits, resulting from several or many blossoms, aggre- 

 gated into one body. The pine-apple, mulberry, Osage-orange, and 

 the fig, are fruits of this kind. This latter is a pecidiar foiin, how- 

 ever, being to a mulberiy nearly what a Rose-hip is to a strawberry 

 (Fig. 279, 280), namely, with a hollow receptacle bearing the flowers 

 concealed inside ; and the whole eatable part is this i)Uipy common 

 receptacle, or hollow thickened flower-stalk. 



3G5. A Strobile, or Cone (Fig. 314), is the pe- 

 culiar multiple fruit of Pines, Cypresses, and 

 the like ; hence named ConifercB, viz. cone- 

 bearing plants. As already shown (322), these 

 cones are made of open pistils, mostly in the 

 form of flat scales, regularly overlying each 

 other, and pressed together in a spike or head. ^is sis 



Each scale bears one or two naked seeds on its irnier face. When 

 the cone is ripe and dry, the scales turn back or diverge, and the 

 seed peels oft" and falls, generally carrying with it a wing, which was 

 a part of the lining of the scale, and which facilitates the di-per-^ion 

 of the seeds i)y the wind (Fig. 312. 313). In Arljor-Vita-, the scales 



FIO. 310. Siliqiio of Sprins Cross (rar.lamiiip rliomboidea), opening. 

 FIG. 3l\. The pyxis, or |h..I, „f tlio roMnii,.n Purslano 



FK;. -.m. Insi.lo view of a sralo from il,o rono of fitch-PiiH) ; witli ono of tlio seeds 

 (Fip. 31.1) ditaclicd ; the oilier in lU plarc on tlio scale. 



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