22 4 



BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS 



Fruits. Fertilisation not only stimulates the ovule and its 

 contents so that a seed may be produced, but its influence also 

 extends to the carpels, and in some cases to other parts of the 

 flower, so that a fruit is formed. Other parts of the flower 

 which do not take part in the formation of the fruit drop off 

 sooner in cases where fertilisation has not occurred. A fruit is 

 the direct result of the changes which go on in a flower as a 

 result of fertilisation. 



Definition of a Fruit. A true fruit is the result of the 

 changes which go on in a single gyncecium due to fertilisation. 

 When other parts of the flower take part in the formation of 



Trans verse Section 



FIG. 216. A, Apple ; E, longitudinal section of Apple ; C, transverse section of 

 Apple. E, endocarp; M, mesocarp ; En, endocarp ; S, seed. 



the fruit, the organ produced is called a spurious fruit or 

 pseudocarp. The apple is formed by the receptacle growing up 

 round the gynoecium after fertilisation, and so forming the 

 whole of the succulent part of the fruit. When an apple is 

 used as food, it is the altered receptacle and calyx which we 

 eat. The central part is formed from the gynoecium and is 

 called the core. The pips are the seeds. (Fig. 216.) 



In the strawberry the receptacle becomes succulent after 

 fertilisation, and carries up the true fruits the hard grains 

 which the fruit contains (Fig. 217). Fruits can thus be divided 

 according to the parts of the flower which take part in their 

 formation into true fruits and spurious fruits. 



