22 INTEODTJCTION. 



indehiscent, when they do not open spontaneously, but fall off with the 

 seeds. 



Succulent fruits are almost always indehiscent. Their principal kinds 

 are 



the Berry, in which the whole substance of the pericarp is fleshy or 

 pulpy, with the exception of the outer skin or rind, called the Epicarp. The 

 seeds themselves are usually immersed in the pulp, althougli in some berries 

 the seeds are sej^arated from the pulp by the walls of the cavity or cells of 

 the ovar'y, which form, as it were, an inner skin or rind called the Eiido- 

 carp. 



the Drupe, in which the pericarp, when ripe, consists of two distinct 

 portions, an outer succulent one called the Sarcocarp (covered like the berry 

 by a skin or epicarp), and an inner dry endocarp called the Putamen, which 

 is either cartilaginous (of tlie consistence of parcliment) or hard and woody. 

 In the latter case it is commonly called a stone, and the drupe a stonefruit. 

 Among dry fruits the principal kinds are 



the Capsule, or Pod,* a chy fruit, which is dehiscent. When ripe it 

 usually splits longitudinally into as many or twice as many pieces, called 

 valves, aa it contains cells or placentae. Sometimes it discharges its seeds 

 by slits, chinks, or pores, more or less regularly arranged. Sometimes it 

 bursts irregularly, or separates into two parts by a horizontal line. The 

 dehiscence is septicidal when the capsule opens by slits opposite the dis- 

 sepiments (or partitions), loculicidal when the shts or openings are opposite 

 the centre of the cells. 



the Nut, or Achene, which is indehiscent, and contains but a single seed. 

 When the pericarp is thin in proportion to the seed it encloses, the whole 

 fruit has the appearance of a seed, and is so called in popular language. 

 When the pericarp of a nut is hard, it is popularly called the shell, and the 

 seed the kernel. But the name of kernel is also given to the seed of a stone- 

 fruit, and the shell is more properly restricted to a part of the seed itself. 



As to their shape. Fruits, Seeds, Tubers, or other parts of plants not 

 flattened like leaves, are 



setaceous, or capillary, when very slender, like hairs. 

 subulate, when rather thicker and firmer, compared to an awl. 

 linear, when at least four times as long as thick. 



ohlong, when from about two to about four times as long as tliick ; the 

 above terms being the same as those applied to flat sui-faces. 



ovoid, when egg-shaped, with the broad end downwards; obovoid, if the 

 broad end is upwards. These terms correspond to the ovate and ohovate 

 shapes of flat surfaces. 



globular, or sphasrical, when corresponding to orbicular in a flat sur- 

 face. Round applies to both. 



conical, when tapering upwards, obconical when tapering downwards, 

 if, in both cases, a transverse section shows a circle. 



pyramidal, when tapering upwards, obpyramidal when tapering dovm- 

 wards, if, in both oases, a transverse section is angular, showing a triangle 

 or polygon. 

 ^ eylindrical, when not perceptibly tapering. 



terete, when the transverse section is not angidar. 



articulate, or jointed, if they separate when ripe, without tearing, into 

 two or more pieces placed end to end. • The joints where they sajjarate are 



* In English descriptions poii is more frequently used when it is long and narrow, or 

 thin, capsule when short and thick. 



