CHARACTERS OF FRUITS. 359 



the dots are characterized by having a green base or are- 

 ola around them, which is very noticeable, and in some 

 varieties these marks, which are perhaps the stomata of 

 the skin, are surrounded by distinct rings of a gray color, 

 that resemble ocellations or eyes. No reliance can be 

 placed upon tlie delicate coloring that is often to be seen 

 upon the surface of certain light colored fruits, making 

 rose, red, or purplish tints about these dots, as they are 

 accidental only and not distinctive markings. 



No one should confound these pores, that are designated 

 as the dots, with the superficial and extraneous marks that 

 appear to be the accidental growth of some fungus or 

 lichen, and which are very commonly found upon the sur- 

 face of many fruits, often giving them a quite pretty ap- 

 pearance that would be seized upon by the fruit painter 

 as a special beauty, unless when so abundant as to pro- 

 duce an unpleasant' smutchiness or cloudiness, such as is 

 often found in the product of apple orchards that are situ- 

 ated in low bottom lands, and which peculiarity is attri- 

 buted to the influence of fogs. 



The BASIN or APEX of a fruit consists of that portion 

 most distant from the stem. In the apple and pear it is 

 commonly called the blossom end, and is often more or less 

 depressed ; hence the term basin. In other fruits it is called 

 the point or apex. Both are characterized by peculiarities 

 of form that serve as distinctive marks in the description of 

 fruits, and these are characters of considerable value on ac- 

 count of their permanence. In respect to its form, the basin, 

 according to its depth, is called deep, fig. 44 ; shallow, fig. 

 45 ; very shallow, or medium. It is abrupt, fig. 44, when 

 the edges are steep ; it is narow and pointed, fig. 46, 



