254 FRUITS AND SEEDS. 



along one side ; the endocarp is pitted and brittle, and there 

 are sometimes two seeds inside it. 



The Coco-" nut" is a drupe in which the mesocarp 

 (removed before exportation) is fibrous. The " shell " is the 

 endocarp, and the flesh inside it is the endosperm in which 

 lies a small embryo (below one of the three pits at the 

 broader end of the "nut"); the fruit is formed from a 

 three-chambered ovary, only one chamber being fertile; 

 the space in the centre of the " nut," filled with sap, corre- 

 sponds to the cavity (vacuole) in the young embryo-sac. 



Examine, dissect, and sketch the fruits of Cherry, Plum, Almond, 

 Holly, Elder, Walnut, Coco-nut. 



282. Berries usually contain several seeds, but sometimes 

 only one, as in Dogwood and Date. The Berry is distin- 

 guished from the drupe by the fact that the pericarp or 

 " stone " has no hard part, whilst the stone in a drupe is the 

 innermost part of the fruit- wall, and encloses the seed ; the 

 seeds (" pips ") in a berry may have hard coats, but the fruit 

 has no other hard parts. 



The Banana, Currant, Cucumber, Grape, Gooseberry, 

 Orange, Pomegranate, Bilberry, Bittersweet, and Tomato are 

 all berries, although several of them exhibit special peculiari- 

 ties. In the case of the Gooseberry and Pomegranate, the 

 outer layer of the coat of each seed is succulent, and forms 

 a large part of the fruit. The " quarters " of the Orange, 

 Lemon, "Lime-fruit," and "Grape-fruit" correspond to the 

 carpels, and the juicy part is composed of large hairs, which 

 arise from the walls of the carpels and are filled with watery 

 sap. The " Squirting Cucumber " (Ecballium) becomes 

 highly turgid when ripe, so that when it breaks oil' its stalk 

 the seeds are ejected along with a quantity of watery sap. 



Examine, dissect, and sketch the fruits of Date, Banana, Gooseberry, 

 Currants, Cucumber, Orange, Grape, Bilberry, Tomato, Bittersweet, 

 Pomegranate. 



283. Pomes. The Apple or Pear affords the best example 

 of a pome, being developed from an inferior ovary composed 

 of five imperfectly syncarpous carpels. The outer fleshy part 

 of an apple is really a portion of the receptacle, while the 



