90 



MIRBEL'S CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS. 



it is indehiscent, (not opening when ripe ;) monospermous, (having one 

 seed;) the egret (c) is sessile and plumose, and the embryo is dico- 

 tyledonous and fleshy. At b, is the same pericarp, cut longitudinally, 

 and exposing an inner half of one of the cotyledons. In this genus 

 are the pericarps of the Dandelion, the Oyster-plant, Lettuce, &c. 



Cerion;* in this genus the embryo is sitaated upon the side of the 

 perisperm ; cotyledon one, large and fleshy. The germ is clothed 

 with a pileole ;-\ the radicles are contained in coleorkizes. The fruit 

 of Indian-corn, wheat, of the grasses and rice, are found here. 



Career 11,1 a, -X the characters of this genus are variable; it includes 

 all fruits of the order Carcerulares, which do not come within the 

 two preceding genera ; the buckwheat, elm, and rhubarb, are ex- 

 amples. 



Order 2d. Capsulares, simple fruits, having 

 capsules which open when in a mature state ; 

 they have their origin from a single ovary, 

 free, or adhering to the calyx; they have 

 valves, and consequently sutures, and open by 

 the separation of the valves. 



Capsule. You see here, (Fig. 94,) a capsu- 

 lar fruit ; it is the seed of the martagon-lily, 

 (Lilium martagon ;) a, represents the cap- 

 sule open, as it appears in a mature state ; 6, 

 the same cut transversely, showing the seeds. 

 All capsular fruits which do not belong to the 

 other genera in this order, are here included. 

 They are monocephalous, as in theUly, orpo- 

 lycephalous, as in Nigella ; they do not adhere 

 to the calyx, and have one or many cells. 



Legume, is an irregular, bivalve, elonga- 

 ted pericarp ; it is monocephalous, free, the 

 two valves joined by two sutures, an upper 

 and lower ; it contains seeds in one cell, a placenta along the 

 lower suture. The embryo has two cotyledons, and a radicle bor- 

 dering on the hilum. The legume is sabre-form in the bean ; cylin- 

 dric in the Cassia, compound in the pea, and articulated in Hedy- 

 sarum, where it is called a loment. 



Fig. 95, a, repre- 

 sents Ihe fruit of the 

 Astragalus ; it is 

 swollen ; the cell is 

 longitudinal ; b is the 

 same legume cut 

 transversely in order 

 Fig. 95. ..^^^^ to show the two cells. 



Silique, a bivalved pericarp, peculiar to the Cruciferce, having its 

 steeds attached to both the upper and lower valves. The silique is 

 divided by a longitudinal partition, formed by the dilated placenta, 

 and bearing the seeds. 



* The same as caryopsis. 



i For aa illustration of these terms, see plate 115, with its explanation, or the vo- 

 cabulnry. 

 t Tin- includes what some call the utricle, others the sderanthus, or samara. 



Cc.non—Carcerula— Order Capsulares— Genus Capsule— Legume— Silique, 



