THE FRUIT. 



57 



the segments, or ])oints of the calyx are still visible in the 

 mature fruit, and often servo, to some extent, by their 

 Bize and otlier peculiarities, as being spread out, or closed 

 together in a point, to identify varieties. In other species, 

 as the plum and cherry, the fruit is forme I loithin the 

 calyx, or above it. Fruits of the former character, form- 

 ing below the calyx, and including it in their structure, 

 are classed as inferior — the apple^pear^ quince^ gooseberry, 

 and currant, are all inferior, having the calyx adhering. 



Those formed within the calyx, and free from it, are 

 called superior; such are \X\q peach, pAum, apricot, nec- 

 tarine, cherry, raspberry, strawberry, and grape. 



The more natural, popular, and useful classification of 

 fruits is that by which they are divided into 



Pomes, or Kernel Fruits, as the apple, pear, quince, 

 medlar, etc. In speaking of these, we call the enlarged 

 accessory parts the flesh, and the dry, bony, seed capsules, 

 the core. 



Drupes, or Stone Fruits, are those which have a peri- 

 carp of two kinds ; the outer part soft and pulpy, t\\G flesh, 

 and the inner one hard and bony, the pit, or stone, which 

 encloses the seed in a shell, like a nut ; as the peach, plum, 

 apricot, cherry, etc. 



Serries. — These have soft, pulpy flesh, containing seeds ; 

 as the gooseberry, currant, and grape. 



Compound Berries, like the raspberry , and blackberry, 

 are made up of minute separate fruits, each like a stone 

 fj-uit, on a very small scale. In the strawberry, the fruits 

 proper are the seed-like ripened ovaries, which are more 

 or less imbedded in a large, fleshy receptacle, which is an 

 enlargement of the end of the flower-stalk, 



Niits, as the fllbert, chestnut, etc., are fruits with a hard, 

 bony covering, which are often contained in husks, or 

 cups, that, when ripe, open and let the fruit drop. 



The outlines, or forms of fruits, and their colors, exliibil 

 great variations, even in the same species. Every portion 

 3* 



