350 



STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



Table illustrating in the Case of the Dry Legumes of Albizzia 

 Lebbek the Relation between the Number of Seeds and the 

 Length of the Pod. 



These data are included in a table in Chapter XV., where the relations between the 

 length and weight of the pod and the number of seeds are compared. The slight 

 difference in three of the results is due to an additional pod being employed in the above 

 table. 



But it is around the early abortion of the ovules after the 

 fertilisation of the ovary that our interest in the fruits of 

 Albizzia Lebbek chiefly centres. With this feature in the 

 history of these legumes are associated the contractions in the 

 pod's width, which frequently give a fantastic shape to the 

 fruit, as illustrated in the figures outlined in a later page. 

 The legumes readily lend themselves to such an inquiry. 

 The aborted ovules are conspicuous in the dry pod and 

 present themselves as little black bodies 0*2 millimetre in size, 

 attached to the end of the funicles, which are usually well 

 preserved. The term aborted ovule is here applied, as in Ficia^ 

 to ovules that fail soon after the fertilisation of the ovary. 

 Ovules that did not abort in this early stage as a rule advanced 

 sufficiently far in their growth to be designated seeds. It 

 will be subsequently shown that the failure of seeds advanced 

 in growth has little or no influence on the fruit. As the 

 result of a large number of observations the following: infer- 

 ences were formed. 



