FOLLICLES AND LEGUMES 



157 



271. Follicles of 

 swamp milk- 

 weed, not yet 

 dehisced. 







along the front edge (that is, the inner 

 edge, next the center of the flower) is a 

 follicle. The fruit of the larkspur (Fig. 

 269) is a follicle. There are usually five 

 of these fruits (sometimes three or four) 

 in each larkspur 

 flower, each pistil 

 ripening into a fol- 

 licle. (Fig. 270.) If 

 these pistils were 

 united, a single com- 

 pound pistil would 

 be formed. Colum- 

 bine, peony, nine- 

 bark and milkweed 

 (Fig. 271) also have 



Legumes of perennial follicles, 

 or everlasting pea. gjg A ^Q^led 



pericarp that dehisces on both edges is a legume. Peas and beans 

 are typical examples (Figs. 

 272, 273, 274): in fact, this 

 character gives name to the 

 pea-family, — Leguminosae. 

 Often the valves of the legume 

 twist forcibly and expel the 

 seeds, throwing them some 

 distance. Sometimes (as in 

 peanut) the legume does not 

 dehisce of itself, even though 

 it has all the essential struc- 

 ture of a true pod. The word 

 pod is sometimes restricted 

 to legumes, but it is better to 

 use it generically (as in 312) 

 for all dehiscent pericarps. 



