362 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



stem, as in Pryor's Red, Roman Stem, and other apples, 

 and in some pears. This portion is sometimes defaced by 

 cracks that separate the skin; it is occasionally green, and 



this is a good and dis- 

 tinguishing character of a 

 limited number of fruits, 

 both apples and pears. The 

 Fig. 50. CAVITY LIPPED. cavity is also brown or 



" russeted" in some fruits, and, though this character is 

 quite variable in its depth, amount and extent, we may 

 consider the brown or russeting about the stem quite 

 reliable in both pears and apples. 



The sfcpm has its place of insertion in the region we 

 have just\ been considering. It is the peduncle of bota- 

 nists, and ni some species it separates from the fruit by a 

 joint in others it remains attached and separates from 

 the twig, when it is considered a part of the fruit itself, 

 as in the apple and pear. The shape, average length, 

 thickness, and other characters, and especially its mode 

 of attachment to the carpos * in the pear, give us some 

 important characters , but these are always somewhat un- 

 certain and variable ; hence they are rather relative than 

 positive traits. In apples, stems may be long, fig. 47, 

 short, fig. 48, or medium, according to their projection 

 beyond or concealment within the cavity, being called me- 

 dium when they simply reach the contour of the outline. 

 They are slender, fig. 47 ; medium or thick, fleshy, knobby or 

 clubbed, fig. 49, according to the amount of their substance 

 and its arrangement. They are curved or straight, and 

 direct and axial, or inclined, according to their direction 



* From :a/)7roc, Greek, for fruit. 



