Cn. VII, 2] MORPHOLOGY OF FRUITS 



349 



FIG. 241. The 

 seed-like fruits 



dissemination and germination, the ovary wall serving simply 



as an additional pit-like coat. A very important form of 



single-seeded indehiscent fruit is the grain (Fig. 242), dis- 



tinguished particularly by the fact that seed 



coat and ovary wall are grown completely 



together, thus making the structure so seed- 



like that only the botanist knows its true 



morphological nature. As its name implies, 



this fruit is characteristic of the grains, (akenes) of Butter- 



Corn, Wheat, Oats, etc. Nuts also are xl' ^om Bauey ) 



commonly one-seeded, though here we meet 



with morphological complications, both as to the original 



number of the ovules and the nature of the shell. 



While in general the construction of the fruit answers 



closely to that of the ovary, some exceptions occur, indicating 

 that the fruit has a certain morphological 

 independence of its own. The development 

 of new dehiscence lines is one instance 

 thereof. The number of compartments, or 

 cells, is usually the same in ovary and fruit, 

 but sometimes partitions disappear, or new 

 ones develop; while we find also such 

 changes as the formation of four little nut- 

 lets (prevailing throughout the Mint family) 

 from a two-celled ovary. Not infrequently 

 a several-celled ovary produces* a one-celled 

 and one-seeded fruit, as in most of our com- 



the embryo, R, G, mon nuts (Fig. 243), in which an occasional 

 development of a second seed gives us the 

 philopena variety. 



In many cases other parts of the flower 

 persist and are incorporated with the ovary 



into the fruit, contributing to its functional effectiveness. 



Thus the style, usually deciduous with the petals and 



stamens, persists in Clematis, where it forms the very con- 



spicuous plume (Fig. 244). In the Composite family, the 



FIG. 242. A 



ovary coat, T ; X 4. 

 (From Le Maout 

 and Decaisne.) 



