DESCRIPTIVE TERMS 365 



becomes dry and hard in ripening, like the fruit of the pea and 

 buttercup, or soft and fleshy, as in the apple, pear, etc. 



Dehiscent fruits, upon ripening, split open along the junction 

 of the carpel or carpels, namely, along the placenta (septicidal 

 dehiscence) or along the back of the carpels between the pla- 

 cental junction line (loculicidal dehiscence). 



Indehiscent fruits remain closed, as in the cereal grains and 

 strawberry, where the entire ovary and inclosed ovule is shed 

 and disseminated together. 



The following classification and the accompanying illustra- 

 tions will enable the student to classify most of the common 

 fruits with which he comes in contact in the field. 



Dry dehiscent fruits : 



The follicle is a simple fruit which dehisces along one side. 

 The legume, or pod, is a simple fruit which dehisces along two 



sides, as in the bean and pea. 

 The silique is a fruit, like that of mustard, composed of two spo- 



rophylls, or carpels, which separate from the central partition. 

 The capsule is a fruit formed from a compound ovary which 



opens at the junction of the sporophylls or between these 



junction points. 

 Dry indehiscent fruits : 



The achene is a simple dry fruit in which the single seed is free 



from the ovary wall, as in the buttercup. 

 The caryopsis, or grain, is the fruit of the grasses and cereals 



in which the ovary wall adheres to the seed. 

 The nut is a fruit in which the ovary wall becomes the indurated 



resistant wall of the fruit. 

 The samara, or key fruit, like that of the maple and ash, is a 



fruit furnished with a winglike outgrowth of the ovary wall. 

 Fleshy fruits, simple or compound : 



In the berry the ovary wall becomes fleshy and incloses one or 



more seeds. 

 In the pome the ovary wall is fleshy but with an indurated 



central part inclosing the seeds, as in the core of the apple. 

 Drupes are stone fruits, like the cherry and plum. 

 Aggregate fruits, like the blackberry, have several simple stone 



fruits aggregated or massed together on one receptacle. 



