192 COMPOUND ORGANS OP PLANTS. 



not even a bract, and consist of a single stamen and pistil 

 placed together in the axil of the leaves, when hermaphrodite 

 and complete, and when unisexual, placed apart from each 

 other. In Fig. 89, the male flower consists of a single stamen 

 and the female flower is represented by a solitary pistil. In 

 the Callitriche, therefore, the flower is finally reduced to a 

 minimum. 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE FRUIT, OR MATURE OVARY. 



THE term fruit, as understood among botanists, has a more 

 extended signification than its meaning in ordinary language. 

 It is applied by them to the fecundated and mature ovary 

 enclosing seeds, capable of germinating and reproducing the 

 plant, whatever be its form or texture, and whether it be edible 

 or not. In this respect a grain of wheat or corn, or the peri- 

 carp of the sun-flower or thistle, is as much a fruit as a peach, 

 gooseberry, or melon. 



Very often, besides the ovary, other parts of the flower, and 

 especially the calyx, enter into the composition of the fruit; 

 but these are only accessory parts, the term fruit being strictly 

 applicable only to the ovary. 



The fruit is composed of two parts, the pericarp (rtepi, around, 

 xaprtoj fruit,) and the seed or seeds. The pericarp is formed by 

 the walls of the ovary itself; the seeds are the ovules fecun- 

 dated and containing an embryo. Let us consider each of 

 these parts in succession. 



THE PERICARP. The pericarp is that part of the fruit 



