41 



the apple consists chiefly of the thickened and fleshy, edible 

 stem (receptacle, or 'adhering floral part') , in the center of which 

 is buried the ovulary, constituted of an outer, fleshy layer, and 

 the inner fibrous surface, immediately enclosing the five locules, 

 each with a few seeds (typically not more than two). 



Usually it is rather easy to distinguish between the tissues of 

 the receptacle and those of the ovulary wall, although their con- 



Figure 1. What's wrong with this picture? The figure represents a too 

 conventionaHzed diagram of a lengthwise section of an apple, taken from an 

 elementary botany text. Comparison with figures 5 & 6 of Plate 4 will show 

 the inaccuracy of representing opposite locules. The densely dotted area re- 

 presents ovulary wall. 



sistency and flavor are similar. Some varieties show the 

 distinction more plainly than others; e. g., the Jonathan, in 

 which the ovulary wall begins to turn brown as soon as exposed 

 to the air, and assumes a different shade of color from the mass 

 of receptacle tissue. In length-wisesections,the line of demarca- 

 tion is most plainly shown when the cut has been made along 

 one of ten principal fibro-vascular bundles. In cross sections 

 there is a distinct line which connects the ten bundles, usually 

 showing a definite though irregular course, which varies in 

 different varieties of apple. 



