SEED-NUMBER AND FRUIT-SIZE 339 



Summing up the indications of the influence of the number Summary 



of seeds on the proportion of parts in capsules and legumes, tionsofthe 



we find that the capsule, as illustrated by the fruits of /m, j.he"number 



Canna. and ^sculus. in response to the augmentation of the of seeds on 



t r 1 • 1 .• 1 r u. • T-u the fruit m 



number ot seeds acquires a relatively lighter pericarp. 1 he the case of 

 fruit increases in size and weight ; but this increase is due ffgumes.*" 

 more to the seeds than to the fruit-case. The legume, as 

 typified by the fruits of Leucana glauca and Albizzia Lebbek^ 

 follows the principle of the capsule in the few-seeded pods ; 

 but in the many-seeded fruits it preserves a fairly constant 

 relation between the weight of the pericarp and the seeds, 

 the pod increasing regularly in length and weight as the seeds 

 increase in number. But the other results obtained for 

 legumes often give no definite clue to any such relations, 

 except in the case of pods with a few large seeds, as in 

 Guilandina bonducella^ where the principle of the capsule is 

 indicated by both the moist and the dry fruits. This lack of 

 relation is partly due to insufficiency of materials ; but in the 

 case of small pods with a few seeds, like those of Abrus and 

 Ulex^ there is evidently some disturbing cause which largely 

 counteracts the display of a connection between the number 

 of seeds and the size of the pod. The circumstance of the 

 growth of the legume being linear, rather than tangential, as in 

 the capsule, may help to explain why the first-named is more 

 irregular in its behaviour. For this reason also the legumes 

 would be more liable to be affected by the abortion of ovules 

 and the failure of seeds. 



As regards the alterations in the average weight of a seed The degree 

 with the accession to the number of seeds and with the increase of the weight 

 in the weight and size of the fruit, the results seem to justify JruJJo^f^'" 

 the following conclusions : — different size 



{a) In the case of many-seeded capsules, like those of Iris 

 and Canna^ we find that as the fruit increases in size and the 

 seeds in number, the seeds of Iris increase their weight, whilst 

 those of Carina remain unchanged. But when a capsule 

 matures only one or two large seeds, as with the Horse- 



