102 Principles of Plant Culture. 



and pulpy, as in the apple and melon. But in common 

 language the term fruit is limited to the pulpy and juicy 

 part of certain plants that normally contains or supports 

 the seed or seeds. To avoid explaining botanical terms, 

 we use the word in the latter sense. In this sense, the 

 fruit serves the plant by attracting animals that can 

 assist in disseminating the seed. 



The seed, as we have seen, is the fecundated and ma- 

 ture ovule (145), and its normal office is reproduction 

 (16). 



157. The Fruit Rarely Develops Without Fecundation of 

 the germ cell of the ovule (150). Varieties of the apple 

 and pear have appeared, however, in which the pulp 

 develops without seeds. The fruit of the banana is 

 almost invariably seedless. The cucumber, grape, 

 orange and fig sometimes develop their fruit without 

 fecundation of the germ cell. These instances are all 

 exceptions to the general rule. 



158. Seed Production Exhausts the Plant far more than 

 other plant processes. The seed prepares little or no 

 food, while it removes from other parts of the plant a 

 comparatively large amount of prepared food, which it 

 stores up in a concentrated form as a food supply for the 

 embryo (55). Many plants (all annuals and biennials) 

 are killed the first time they are permitted to seed freely, 

 and perennials are often weakened by excessive seeding.* 



159. Prevention of Seeding Prolongs the Life of Plants. 

 Many annual flowering plants, as sweet peas, dianthus 

 etc., that soon perish when permitted to mature their 



* Double-flowered varieties of the annual larkspur (Delphinium), that 

 bear no seed, have become perennial. 



