300 



STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



The relative 

 weights of 

 pericarp and 

 seeds in the 

 different 

 stages of a 

 fruit. 



the heaviest fruits have usually the smallest seed-weight. 

 Thus amongst the drupes, the Sloe (Prunus communis\ weighing 

 about 30 grains, and the Coco-nut (Cocos nucifera]^ weighing 

 60,000 grains, have much the same proportions. Coming near 

 together amongst the baccate fruits are those of the Elder 

 (Sambucus nigra\ weighing 3 grains, the Gooseberry (Ribes 

 Grossutaria), weighing 100 grains, and the Shaddock (Citrus 

 decumana), weighing 14,000 grains. 



Although in this respect the capsules behave mostly like 

 the legumes, the largest fruits having usually the greatest 

 proportion of pericarp, one can point to cases where fruits 

 widely different in size and weight have the same proportion 

 in their parts. Thus in the capsules of the Blue-bell (Scilla 

 nutans), weighing 10 grains, and in that of the Horse-chestnut 

 (Msculus Hippocastanum\ weighing 700 grains, the proportional 

 weight of the pericarp is the same. With the legumes those 

 fruits possessing the greatest proportion of pericarp, to wit, 

 those of Cassia fistula, Poinciana regia, and Entada polystachya, 

 are certainly the largest ; and this circumstance seems to be 

 associated with the presence of much ligneous tissue. In fact, 

 legumes like those of Pisum sativum (Pea) and of Faba vu/garis 

 (Broad Bean), which have a thick, fleshy pericarp, are not 

 conspicuously high in the scale. The same indication is 

 supplied in a general way by the capsules, since the two largest 

 and heaviest amongst them, those of Swietenia Mahogani and 

 Hura crepitans, are not only the most ligneous, but rank 

 amongst capsular fruits with the highest proportional weight 

 for the pericarp, namely, 85 and 84 per cent, respectively. 



It should again be observed that the weights and other 

 particulars concerning the fruits in this table will be found in 

 the last table in this chapter. 



The history of the proportional and absolute weights of 

 the pericarp and seeds of a fruit during its early growth, 

 maturation, and drying now demands our attention. It is a 

 familiar fact in the history of fruits and seeds that the pericarp 

 or fruit-case is as a rule in its growth far in advance of the 



