GERANIACE^ 295 



or solitary and pendulous, with the micropyle superior and the 

 raphe ventral, or transverse with the raphe lateral. Where the 

 thalamus is flat, as in Limnanthes, the ovule is solitary and 

 ascending with the micropyle inferior. The ovules vary from 

 two to many in the tribes Wendtiese and Oxalideae, are hori- 

 zontal or pendulous, and arranged in a single or double series 

 along the placenta. The fruit is a schizocarp in many cases, 

 three- to five-lobed, and breaking away from the axis in as 

 many one-seeded pieces, the beak of which becomes revolute 

 carrying the seed upwards with it. In other cases, such as that 

 of Limnanthese and Tropseolum, the fruit breaks up into three 

 to five indehiscent, hardened cocci. The two- to many-seeded 

 fruits are capsular, dehiscing loculicidally with persistent 

 valves, as in Oxalis, or the valves break away with elasticity 

 from the placentas, as in Impatiens. In a few cases the fruit 

 is baccate, many-seeded, and indehiscent, as in Averrhoa. 



The seeds are pendulous, horizontal, or ascending, the 

 first and last being characteristic of one- or few-seeded fruits. 

 The testa is thin, rarely somewhat crustaceous. Endosperm 

 is absent or rarely present in some quantity and fleshy. The 

 embryo is curved or straight, often green, and the cotyledons 

 are foliaceous and variously convolute longitudinally or twisted, 

 flat, plaited, or plano-convex, or they are thick and fleshy as 

 in Tropseolum. The radicle is short in straight embryos, and 

 pointing to the hilum, or, as in the Geraniese and Pelargoniese, 

 is long and incumbent upon the back of the cotyledon next to 

 the raphe, and, together with the tips of the cotyledons, points 

 to the base of the fruit. The whole Order may be roughly 

 divided into five groups according to the form of the embryo 

 and the presence or absence of endosperm. On the amount 

 of the latter present in the seed depends to a large extent the 

 size, form, and modification of the embryo. The larger the 

 quantity present, the smaller and simpler the embryo. The 

 groups may be characterised as follows : (1) endosperm 

 present, embryo straight; (2) endosperm present, embryo 

 curved ; (3) endosperm present, cotyledons plicate ; (4) endo- 

 sperm absent, embryo fleshy, straight ; (5) endosperm absent 

 or rarely present in small quantity, cotyledons convolute 

 or induplicate-plicate. These characters do not in all cases 



