GROSS ANATOMY OF THE ANOI08PEBM8. 315 



Dehiscence- — The opening of tlie fruit in order to permit tlie 

 escape of the seeds is called its dehiscence, and such fruits are said to 

 be dehiscent; those which do not open are indeMscent. In fruits de- 

 veloped from single carpels dehiscence is generally through the 

 ventral or dorsal suture, or both ; in those developed from compound 

 pistils the partitions may split, and thus resolve each fruit into its 

 original carpels (septicidal dehiscence) ; or the dorsal sutures may 

 become vertically ruptured, thus opening every cell (loculus) by a 

 vertical slit (loculieidal dehiscence, Pig. 226, 2). Among the other forms 

 of dehiscence only that called circumncissile. Fig. 216, 3, and tlie 

 irregular need be mentioned ; in the former a transverse slit sepa- 

 rates a lid or cap, exposing the seeds ; in the latter one or more ir- 

 regular slits form, and through these the seeds escape. 



Kinds of Fruits — The principal fruits may be distinguished by 

 the brief characters given in the following table : 



A. MONOQTHCECIAL FEUITS. 



formed by the gyncecium of one flower. 



I. Capsulary Fruits — The Capsules — Dry, dehiscent, formed 

 from one pistil (Fig. 216). 



FlQ. 216.— Capsulary fruits : 1, legume ; 3, capsule, showing loculieidal 

 dehiscence ; 3, pyxis, showing circumsciasile deniaoence ; 4, silique. 



