FRUIT. 45 



Fruit. 



Fruit, strictly speaking, is the pistil arrived at 

 maturity. 



When the calyx adheres to the pistil and 

 grows with it to maturity, the fruit is called 

 inferior ; as the Apple. 



But when the pistil alone ripens, there 

 being no adhesion to it on the part of the 

 calyx, the fruit is called superior; as the 

 Peach. 



The fruit is, therefore, in common language, 

 the flower, or some part of it, arrived at its 

 most complete state of existence ; and, con- 

 sequently, is itself a portion of a stunted 

 branch. 



The nature of its connection with the stem 

 is therefore the same as that of the branches 

 with each other, or of leaves with their stem. 



A superior Fruit consisting only of one, or 

 of a small number of transformed leaves, it 

 has little or no power of forming a communi- 

 cation with the earth and of feeding itself, as 

 real branches have. 



It has also very little adhesion to its branch ; 

 so that but slight causes are sufficient to detach 



