FRUITS AND SEEDS 



157 



middle as a thin vertical plate, bearing seeds on both 

 its margins, as in Mustard. When it is short and 

 compressed the siliqua is called silicula, that is, 



@ @ ® 



ABC 

 Figf. 140. — Diag;rammatic Representation of Valvular Dehiscence 



A, Loculicidal. a, Septtcidal. c, Septifragal. 



small siliqua, as in Shepherd's Purse {Capsella 

 Bursa-pastoris), a weed commonly occurring in culti- 

 vated fields during the cold season. 



A CAPSULE is the name given to all other dehiscent 

 fruits which arise from a syncarpous 

 many-seeded ovary. Capsules dehisce 

 usually in five different ways, namely, 



(l) SEPTICIDALLY — B (fig. I40), that is, 



along the septas, as in petari {Abiitilon) 



and Linseed; (2) loculicidally — a, 



that is, along the dorsal sutures, so as 



to expose the loculi, as in Cotton and 



Anatto; (3) septifragally — c, that 



is, along the dorsal sutures, together 



with the breaking across of the septa, 



as in Datura; (4) circumscissilely 



(fig. 141), when a portion of the 



pericarp separates like a cap, as in nunia-shagf and 



sada-morag-phul {Celosia argentea), a common 



winter weed in Mustard and Pea fields; and (5) 



by PORES or small openings in the pericarp, 



as in Poppy (fig. 142) and Antirrhinum. The first 



Fig;. 141. — Cir- 

 cumscissilc Dehis- 

 cence of Fruit of 

 Sada - moragf - phul 

 {Celosin ar^viitea) 



