632 



PART 111. THE CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS. 



Fig. 343.— Diagrammatic sections of dehiscent 

 tEultilocular capsules. A Septicidnl, B loculi- 

 cidal, dehiscence ; C loculicidal septifragal 

 dehiscence. 



(3) The 2>o?-o?/8 capsnh', e [j. the Poppy (Fig. 342 r>), sheds its seeds through 

 small holes arising from the removal of small portions of the wall in certain 

 spots. 



B. Succulent Fruits. In these the pericarp is usually differentiated into 



la.vers, and some portion of it re- 

 tains its sap until it is ripe, and 

 usually becomes fleshy at that 

 stage ; it is iudehiscent. 



(1) The drupe (Fig. 344), is su- 

 perior and monomerous, e.y. the 

 Plum, Cherry; or pyncarpous, e.g. 

 the Walnut and Coco-Nut. The 

 most internal layer, the endocarp, 

 is very hard and sclerenchymatous 

 (Fig. 344 e) ; it is commonly known 

 as the atone in Plums, Peaches, 

 etc., and encloses the seed until 

 germination : the mesocarp is 

 generally succulent, and the epi- 

 carj) is a delicate membrane : when 

 the fruit consists of several drupes, 

 they a'e commonly termed drupels (^.//.Easpberry). 



(2) The berry (bacca) : the endocarp is soft and juicy as well as the mesocarp, 

 so that the seeds are imbedded in the pericarp : there may be one seed only, as 

 in the Date; or many, as in the Gourd, Currant and Grape: the fruit may have 

 one loculus, as in the Grape and the Gourd, or several loculi, as in the Oi'ange; 

 and further, it may be superior, as in the Grape, 

 Orange, and Lemon; or inferior, as io the Cur- 

 rant, the Gooseberry, and the Gourd. 



When the fruifc is apocarpous and 

 consists of many achenes, drupels, or 

 follicles, it is termed an elmrio; for in- 

 stance, the frait of the Buttercup, the 

 Rose, and the Stravvben-j is an etserio 

 of achenes ; that of the Raspberry and 

 the Blackberry is an etcerio of drupels; 

 that of the Tulip-Tree arid of the Mag- 

 nob'a is an etserio of follicles. 



The transition between a syncarpous and an 

 apocarpous fruit can be readily traced in the 

 Mulvaeeas, from the loculicidal capsule of the 

 Hibisceae, through the schizocarpous carcerule 

 of the Malveas, to the fruit of the Malopeaj 

 which resembles an etoerio of achenes though the styles are coherent. 



Fig. 34i1'.— Longitndinal sec- 

 tion of thedrupeof theAlmoTid: 

 s the seed attached by the fun- 

 icle (/); e the hard endocarp; 

 Id the mesocarp; and x the 

 epicarp — these constitute the 

 pericarp (]■)• 



