370 OX SEEDLINGS 



The fruit is superior or partly submerged in the receptacle, 

 one- to five-celled and nearly always drupaceous and inde- 

 hiscent. The endocarp is bony, crustaceous, or leathery, 

 and sometimes bursts open by two valves, as in Mangifera 

 indica and Buchanania. In some of the species of Pistacia it 

 behaves in the same way. The tissue of the fruit often con- 

 tains large cavities filled with an oily or caustic juice as in 

 Schinus Molle and Schinus terebinthifolius. A curious case 

 occurs in Anacardium occidentale, where the receptacle be- 

 comes very large, pyriform, and fleshy, forming a pseudo-fruit, 

 bearing at its apex the very much smaller, reniform, true fruit. 

 The other five species, as well as those of Gluta, have also a 

 stipitate fruit. 



The seed is horizontal and lies across the receptacle, 

 or erect, or pendulous, with frequently a swollen or umbilicate 

 funicle. 



The testa is generally if not always membranous, and is 

 occasionally united firmly with the endocarp. Endosperm is 

 nearly always absent, or forms a thin layer as in some species 

 of Schinus and in Smodingium. The cotyledons are thin and 

 plano-convex, or of great thickness and fleshy. The short 

 radicle is straight or variously curved, pointing upwards or 

 downwards to the micropyle. 



Types with comparatively thin cotyledons are represented 

 by Schinus Molle (fig. 259) and S. terebinthifolius (fig. 260). 

 Then- thinness is explained by the narrowness of the cavity of 

 the endocarp and by the presence of a moderate quantity of 

 fleshy endosperm. Thick cotyledons of peculiar form are ex- 

 hibited by Buchanania latifolia (fig. 258). A stout cord-like 

 funicle runs along the basal end and half-way round the upper 

 edges of the cotyledons, forming a deep furrow. 



Seedlings. There are two leading types of seedlings, 

 namely, those with aerial and those with subterranean coty- 

 ledons. The most prevalent form of cotyledons is ovate, 

 obtuse, trinerved, shallowly sinuate on one side, otherwise 

 entire and shortly petiolate. This is well represented by 

 Schinus terebinthifolius (fig. 260) ; the cotyledons besides show- 

 ing the characters above mentioned are more conspicuously 

 reticulate than happens in many others which are more opaque. 



