BOTANICAL TEEMS. 



33 



The essential parts of the fruit are 



(a) The Seed, or matured ovule, and 



(b) The Pericarp, or matured ovary, within which 

 the seeds are contained. 



The Pericarp is in three layers : 



(a) The Epicarp (or Exocarp), the outer layer. 



(b) The Mesocarp (or Sarcocarp), the middle layer. 



(c) The Endocarp, the inner layer. 



Kinds of Fruit 

 A 



-Dry Fruits : those whose pericarp remains thin, and 

 becomes dry and hard at maturity. Such fruits are 



(1) Dehiscent, when the pericarp opens so as to allow 

 the seeds to escape. 



(2) Indehiscent, when the pericarp does not so open. 



Dry Dehiscent Fruits. 



(a) Follicle, a fruit of a single carpel, which opens 

 down one edge only, as in Marsh-Marigold and Peony 

 (Fig. 175). 



(b) Legume, a fruit of a single carpel, which opens 

 down both edges (dorsal or outer and ventral or inner 

 sutures), as in Pea and Bean (Fig. 176). 



The Lament is a special form of legume. It is 

 made up of a number of one-seeded joints which 

 separate from each other when ripe ; each joint, as 

 a rule, remaining closed (Fig. 177). 



(c) Silique, a syncarpous fruit of two carpels divided 

 by a thin partition, from which the carpels fall away 

 when ripe, leaving the placentas and seeds around the 

 edge of the partition (Fig. 178). 



(d) Silicle, a fruit of the same construction as the 

 silique, and differing only in shai;)e ; the silique being 

 considerably longer than broad, as in Stock (Fig. 178), 

 and the silicle being nearly or quite as broad as long, as 

 in Shepherd's Purse (Figs. 179, 180). 



(e) Pyxis, a fruit which opens by a horizontal seam, 

 so that the top comes off like a lid, as in Purslane (Fig. 

 181). 



(f) Capsule, a syncarpous fruit which normally splits 

 at maturity, either wholly or partiallj', into as many 

 pieces as there are carj^els. 



The Dehiscence of the Capsule is 

 Septicidal : when the splitting takes place in the line of 

 the dissepiments (Fig. 182). 



Fig. 175. 



Fig. 177. 



Fig. 176. 



Fig. 178. 



Fig. 179. Fig. 180. Fig. 181. 



Fig. 182. 



