SECT. xii. FR UCTIFICA TION. 3 8 1 



tification, the canal of the style is occupied by soft 

 humid elongated cells mixed with a viscous fluid, which 

 exudes upon the surface of. the stigma, rendering it 

 moist and glutinous. When the pollen grains adhere 

 to that humid substance, the tubular extension of their 

 inner lining, with its contents, passes down the style 

 and fertilizes the unripe seeds. 



After fructification the anthers, stigma, and con- 

 ducting tissues wither, yet, in many fruits, additions are 

 made to the. ovary and its contents by the remains of 

 some of the other parts* of the inflorescence. In the 

 apple, which is a simple fruit, the skin of the calyx 

 forms the skin of the apple, and the flesh or edible 

 part is developed out of the ovary and the remainder 

 of the calyx, while the inner layer of the ovary forms the 

 horny cells containing the ripe seeds. In the straw- 

 berry, which is a compound fruit, the pulp is the en- 

 larged flesliy receptacle bearing the simple fruit on its 

 surface. In the orange, the membranous partitions of 

 its segments are the linings of the ovary, and the pulp 

 is formed of lax large-celled cellular tissue developed 

 within it. 4 All fruits have the mark of the style ; it 

 is very evident in the apple and orange. Simple fruits 

 are formed by a single flower ; multiple fruits, like the 

 ananas, or pine-apple, and fir cone, are formed of masses 

 of inflorescence in a state of adhesion. 



Spiral vessels are frequently found passing from the 

 fleshy part of fruits into the seeds ; they are very nume- 

 rous in the seeds of the Collomia grandiflora and others, 

 coiled up and compressed by the outer skin ; but they 

 start to their full length as soon as released. The coats 

 of the seeds of various plants, when seen through a 

 microscope, are beautifully marked. That of the Big- 



4 Inflorescence and fructification are fully explained, and applied to a vast 

 number of plants, in ' Structural and Physiological Botany,' by Arthur 

 Henfrey, Esq., a work of great research and merit. 



