CYCLOPEDIA OF 

 HARDY FRUITS 



PART I POME-FRUITS 



CHAPTER I 

 THE STRUCTURAL BOTANY OF POME-FRUITS 



Botanists differ in defining a pome. One 

 definition is that the outer fleshy part of the 

 apple, pear or quince, fruits which all agree 

 are typical pomes, is the thickened calyx; a 

 comparatively new definition describes a pome 

 as consisting of two to five carpels, each of 

 which is a drupe-like fruit containing one to 

 many seeds, the several drupes being connected 

 and held together by a fleshy receptacle. The 



to which belong the apricot, cherry, peach, 

 nectarine, and plum; the brambles, a general 

 name for blackberries, dewberries, and raspber- 

 ries; and strawberries, sometimes called the 

 runner fruits. Among these several groups, 

 pome-fruits lead in importance in the agricul- 

 tural regions of the world. The pomes seem to 

 have been cultivated longer than any other of 

 the fruits under consideration; hence it may 



1. Flower and fruit of a pome. A, Flower of pome; B, Fruit 

 of pome, a, Sepal; b, calyx-tube; c, receptacle; d, carpel; e, 

 ovule; j, petal; g, stamen; h, style. 



definition most generally accepted is that a 

 pome is a fleshy fruit of which the compound 

 ovary is borne within and connected with the 

 enlarged receptacle. 



A discussion of the botanical alliances of this 

 group of plants would be helpful to the study 

 of the structure of pomes. Such a discussion, 

 however, would lead far afield, so that a brief 

 statement must suffice as to the place which 

 pome-fruits hold in botanical classifications of 

 plants. The pome-fruits belong to Rosaceae, 

 a family of plants of which the rose is the 

 type. Three other groups of hardy fruits com- 

 mon in orchards are associated with the pomes 

 in the Rose family. These are: drupe-fruits, 



be assumed that they are farthest evolved from 

 the wild state, and accordingly there are more 

 varieties of apples and pears than of other 

 hardy fruits. It is significant that pomology, 

 the name accepted for the science and practice 

 of fruit-growing, is derived from pome. (Fig. 



CHARACTERS OF POME-FRUIT PLANTS 



The recognition of varieties is usually de- 

 pendent on characters of the fruits, but the 

 plants are distinct as well as the fruits and 

 may be helpful in identification and classifica- 

 tion, and, in the absence of fruit, must be 

 relied on to identify a species or variety. It is 



