256 MANUAL OF BOTANY 



opens by two sutures, and is two-valved ; in other respects the 

 two flniits are alike. In Magnolia glauca {fig. 511), and some 

 other species of Magnolia, the follicle opens by the dorsal suture 

 instead of the ventral. Examples of the follicle occur in the 

 Columbine {fig. 552), Hellebore, Larkspur, and Aconite {fig. 

 553), in all of which plants the fruit is composed of three or 

 more follicles placed in a whorled manner on the thalamus ; in 

 Asclejaias and the Periwinkle, and Pseony (^/ig'. 554), where each 

 flower generally forms two follicles ; and in Liriodendron and 

 Magnolia {fig. 511), where the follicles are numerous, and 

 arranged in a spiral manner on a more or less elongated 

 thalamus. It rarely happens- that a flower produces but a single 

 follicle ; this, however, sometimes occurs in the Pseoriy and in 



Fig. 555. Fig. 557. Fig. 558. 



Fig. 556. 



Fig, 555. Coiled-up legume of Scorpiurus sulcata. Fig. 556. Snail-like 



legume of i^edicago orbicidata. Fig. 557. Spiral or screw-like legume of 



Lucerne (^Medicago). Fig. 558. Lomentum of a species of Acacia. 



other plants. The two follicles of Asclepias are more or less 

 united at their bases, and the seeds, instead of remaining 

 attached to the ventral suture, as is the case in the true follicle, 

 lie loose in the cavity of the fruit. This double fruit has therefore 

 by some botanists received the distinctive name of Concepta- 

 culum. 



2. The Legume or Pod. — This is a superior, one-celled, one- or 

 many-seeded fruit, dehiscing by both ventral and dorsal sutures 

 so as to form two valves, and bearing its seed or seeds on the 

 ventral suture. Examples occur in the Pea {fig. 512), Bean, 

 Clover, and most plants of the order Leguminosse, which has 

 derived its name from this circumstance. The legume assumes 

 a variety of forms, but it is generally more or less convex on 



