CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS. S7 



In some fruits the pericarp seems to consist of three parts — 



1st. The epicarp* the skin of the fruit, or membranous part which 

 surrounds it, and which is a kind of epidermis ; 



2d. Thesarcocm-p^^ a part more or less fleshy, corky or coriace- 

 ous, often scarcely perceptible, and covered by the epicarp , 



3d, The endocarp,X an internal membrane of the fruit, which lines 

 the cavity, and by its folds forms the partitions and cells. 



In the peach, for example, the skin is the epicarp ; the pulpy, cel- 

 lular substance which absorbs the juices of the fruit is the sarco- 

 carp : the shell which encloses the kernel, deprived of moisture, and 

 rendered dry and tough, is the endocarp. The endocarp is also call- 

 ed the putamen. 



In most fruits the pericarp consists of the following parts : 



1st. Valves or external pieces^ which form the sides of the seed 

 vessels. If a pericarp is formed of but one, it is imivalved ; the 

 chestnut is of this kind. A pericarp with two valves is said to be 

 bivalved., as a pea-pod. The pericarp of the violet is trivalved; that 

 of the stramonium quadrivalved. Most valves separate easily when 

 the fruit is ripe ; this separation is known by the term dehiscence. 



2d. Sutures or seams, are lines vv^hich show the union of valves ; at 

 these seams the valves separate in the mature stage of the plant; 

 they are very distinct in the pea-pod, which has two sutures. 



S'd. Partitions or dissepiments, are internal membranes which di- 

 vide the pericarp into different cells ; these are longitudinal when 

 they extend from the base to the summit of the pericarp ; they are 

 transverse when they extend from one side to the other. 



4th. Column or Columella, the axis of the fruit; this is the central 

 point of union of the partitions of the seed vessels ; it may be seen 

 distinctly in the core of an apple. 



5th. Cells, are divisions made by the dissepiments, and contain 

 the seeds ; their number is seldom variable in tl)e same genus of 

 plants, and therefore serves as an important generic distinction. 



6th. jRecepiacle of the fruit, is that part of the pericap to which the 

 seed remains attached until its perfect maturity; this organ, by 

 means of connecting fibres, conveys to the seed, for its nourishment, 

 juices elaborated by the pericarp. 



Some plants are destitute of a pericarp, as in the labiate flowers, 

 compound flowers, and grasses ; in these cases the seeds lie in the 

 bottom of the calyx, which performs the otfice of a pericarp. 



LinnoEuss Division of Pericarps. 



Linnffius made a division of fruits into nine classes, viz.: Capsule, 

 Silique, Legume, Follicle, Drupe, Nut, Pome, Berry, and Strobilum. 



1st. Capsule, a little chest or casket; this is a hollow pericarp 

 which opens spontaneously by pores, as the poppy, or by valves, as 

 the pink. The internal divisions of the capsule are called cells ; 

 these are the chambers appropriated for the reception of the seeds ; 

 according to the number of these cells, the capsule is one-celled, two- 

 celled, &c. The membranes by which the capsule is divided into 

 cells are called dissepiments, or partitions ; these partitions are 

 either parallel to the valves or contrary. The columella is the cen- 

 tral pillar in a capsule ; and is the part which connects the several 

 internal partitions with the seed. It takes its rise from the recep- 



* From epi. upon, and karpos, fruit. 



t From sarx, flesh, and karpos, fiuit. t From endo, witiiin, and karpos\ fruit. 



Epicarp— Sarocarp— Endocarp— Valves— Sutures— Partitions or dissepiments— Co- 

 lumn — Cells— Receptacle of the pericarp — Pericarp sometimes wanting — Linnseus's 

 division of pericarps— Capsule. 



