FRUITS AND SEEDS 155 



middle layer termed mesocarp. For example, in 

 Cocoa-nut the thick fibrous outer layer is the epi- 

 carp and the hard horny inner layer or shell is the 

 endocarp. In the ripe Mango (fig. 137) the skin 

 that we throw off is the epicarp, the pulpy layer that 

 we eat is the mesocarp, and the hard horny layer is 

 the endocarp. The hard horny endocarp in Mango 

 and similar fruits is called stone or anti. In khejur 

 the epicarp is thin and crustaceous, the mesocarp is 

 pulpy, and the endocarp thin, white, and membran- 

 ous, enclosing one horny seed which must not be 

 mistaken for a stone. In tal-palm there are one, two, 

 or, more often, three stones, which must not be mis- 

 taken for seeds; each stone encloses a single seed. 



Classification of Fruits. — Fruits are classified 

 in various ways, and have received various special 

 names, into the intricacies of which we do not wish 

 to enter, as it will serve no useful or practical purpose. 

 We shall content ourselves with a simple classifica- 

 tion, and illustrate it with a few commonly occurring 

 examples. The fruits we divide first into two groups, 

 namely, (i) simple fruits, that is, fruits which are the 

 products of a single flower, and (2) collective fruits, 

 that is, fruits which are the products of many flowers 

 conglomerated together. The simple fruits may be 

 true or spurious, but aggregate fruits are always 

 spurious. The simple fruits are either (a) dehiscent 

 or {b) indehiscent, according as the pericarp breaks 

 open to expose the seeds or does not do so. The 

 commonly occurring simple dehiscent fruits are as 

 follows : — 



{a) Simple Dehiscent Fruits. — (i) Follicle, (2) 

 Legume, (3) Siliqua, and (4) Capsule. 



A follicle is an apocarpous, simple, i-celled, 

 many-seeded, usually long fruit, which dehisces by 



