CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS. 



145 



but in some cases not for many years, and in other cases they 

 separate from the axis. In Juniperus the scales become succulent. 

 In Taxus the solitary ovule is naked ; but during the ripening of 

 the seed a succulent cup-like envelope grows up round it. 



Forms of Fruit. The forms of perfect fruit are distinguished 

 by technical names, and in denning them it is desirable to classify 

 them in some way. The classification which conveys the greatest 

 amount of information is that founded primarily on the con- 

 struction of fruits. 



Fruits may be divided first into free or monothalamic fruits, 

 formed from single flowers, and confluent fruits, formed of the 

 blended flowers of an inflorescence. The term polythalamic has 

 been conveniently applied to fruits of this latter kind. 



Free fruits may be divided into : 1. Apocarpous fruits, where the 

 constituent carpels are solitary, or, if more than one, separate ; 2. 

 Syncarpous fruits, formed of compound ovaries, and consisting of 

 (a) superior fruits when the calyx is free, and (b) inferior fruits 

 when the tube of the receptacle or of the calyx is adherent. 



Confluent fruits require no corresponding subdivision. 



The following are the terms most usually employed, and very many 

 more might be enumerated ; but botanists now content themselves with a 

 few well-defined types, and for the rest use such terms as capsular, baccate, 

 &c., to indicate the general nature of the fruit, as more rigidly applied 

 terms are not only cumbersome, but often fail in practice. 



Apocarpous Fruits. 



Achaenium. The Achcenium is a small, dry, indehiscent, one- 

 seeded pericarp, tipped with the remains of the style, and with 

 the seed free in the interior, except at the point of attachment. 



This fruit is rarely found solitary, as in Alchemilla ; it usually forms 

 Fig. 280. 



Fig. 279. 



Fig. 281. 



Fig. 282. 



Fig. 279. Achaenium of Ranunculus cut vertically to show the seed. 



Fig. 280. Section of the fruit of the Date (Phoenix dactylifera) : c, the pericarp; x, the 



embryo imbedded in the horny albumen. 

 Fig. 281. Circles of follicles of Semper vivum. 

 Fig. 282. Persistent calyx of a Boraginaceous plant, opened to show the carcerulus formed of 



four indehiscent carpels, separating from each other. 



