252 FRUITS AND SEEDS. 







278. Opening or Capsular Fruits. The follicle 



opens along the inner side (ventral suture} which bears the 

 seeds, e.g. in Monkshood, Marsh Marigold, Winter Aconite, 

 Christmas Rose, Columbine, Larkspur (all belonging to the 

 Buttercup family), also in Magnolia, Stonecrop, etc. The 

 pod separates into two valves by opening along both the 

 dorsal and the ventral sutures. The siliqua (characteristic 

 fruit of Crucifers) opens by two valves which separate 

 from below upwards, leaving the seeds on the edges of a 

 partition across the fruit (e.g. Wallflower). The silicula 

 is a short and broad form of the siliqua (e.g. Shepherd's 

 Purse). 



A typical capsule usually consists of several carpels, and is 

 dry. The capsules of Horse Chestnut are rather fleshy when 

 ripe, and the fleshy capsules of the Balsam and Wood Sorrel 

 are so much stretched when ripe that a touch is sufficient to 

 cause them to split open and throw the seeds out violently. 



Capsules usually open longitudinally, either 

 along the dorsal sutures (midribs) of the carpels 

 (e.g. Willow-herb, Blue-bell), or (more rarely) 

 along the partitions between the chambers of 

 the ovary (e.g. Foxglove, St. John's Wort). 

 The capsule of Stitchwort and other Caryophyl- 

 laceae splits about half-way down into twice as 

 many teeth as there are carpels. In all these 

 cases the opening takes place along lines already 

 marked out in the structure of the ovary ; but 

 m some plants it follows entirely new paths. 

 Thus some capsules open transversely, a lid 

 being separated, as in Plantain (Fig. 92), Pim- 

 pernel, Henbane. In the Poppy small pieces 

 of the capsule- wall are detached, forming a series of holes 

 around the top of the capsule, through which the seeds escape. 

 The capsules of Snapdragon and of Campanula also open by 

 pores, produced in the same way as in the Poppy. 



Examine and make careful sketches of the fruits of Columbine- 

 Monkshood, Larkspur, Winter Aconite, Christmas Rose, Gorse, Labur, 

 num (seeds poisonous), Peas, Beans, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Wallflower, 

 Candytuft, Shepherd's Purse, Charlock, Willow-herb, Bluebell, Iris, 

 Foxglove, Snapdragon, St. John's Wort, Stitchwort, Campion, Chick- 

 weed, Plantain, Scarlet Pimpernel, Henbane, Poppy, Canterbury 

 Bell. 



