CHAP. XXVII FLESHY FRUITS 



CHAPTER XXVII 



FLESHY FRUITS 



WE shall be able to find many fruits in which all or a por- 

 tion of the ripened ovary wall (called in these cases, as well 

 as in those of dry fruits, the pericarp} is soft and fleshy. 

 The fruits help to disperse the seeds they contain by being 

 eaten by animals (particularly by birds). In such cases the 

 outer fleshy portion is digested, and the seeds, protected by 

 their own resistant coats or by a hardened portion of the 

 pericarp, remain undigested, pass from the intestine of the 

 animal with the other excreta, and are thus left at a greater 

 or less distance from the places where they were produced. 



In studying fleshy fruits we distinguish two general 

 classes : 



1. Berries, in which the entire wall is fleshy and 



2. Drupes or Stone Fruits, in which the outer portion of the 



pericarp wall is fleshy, but the inner wall is hard and 

 resistant. 

 We shall study the stone fruit first. 



I. The Drupe. Take a ripe Peach, Apricot, Cherry, or 

 Plum, examine it carefully and notice : 



1. The general shape, size, color, odor, etc. 



2. The point of attachment. 



3. The small protuberance at the other end (where the base 



of the style joined the ovary). 



