348 



STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



In the next place, there is as a rule no " beading " to be 

 observed in these fruits of Vicia^ a character which is associated 

 in moniliform pods with failure of the ovules. This is in 

 part due to the fact that the failure of the growing ovule or 

 young seed usually takes place in these pods at the extremities 

 of the seed-cavity and not in the middle. But this only partly 

 explains the absence of contractions, since much also depends 

 on the structure of the pod itself. 



TABLE SHOWING HOW THE ABORTED OVULES AND THE SMALL IMPERFECT 

 SEEDS OF VICIA SEPIUM COMBINE WITH THE MATURED SEEDS TO 

 FORM THE ORIGINAL COMPLEMENT OF THE OVULES (12). 



(Twenty-four pods were examined. In a few cases the aborted ovules and imperfect 

 seeds are differentiated, the results being given in the last two columns. ) 



All the ovules begin to enlarge and to turn green after the fertilisation of the ovary. 

 Some of them fail before they attain a size of a millimetre and are termed aborted ovules. 

 Others proceed further with their growth, but fail when about half-size ( i "5 millimetre). 

 The original size of the ovule is about o'j millimetre, their number averaging twelve. 



