FRUITS 259 
many seeded, inclosed in a containing envelope, whether 
skin or rind, is a berry. Its typical forms are such fruits as 
the grape, mistletoe, pokeberry, etc., though such diverse 
forms as the eggplant, persimmon, red pepper, orange, ba- 
nana, and pomegranate have been classed as berries; and, 
in fact, the melon and the pumpkin are only greatly modified 
kinds of the same fruit. In popular language, any small, 
round, edible fruit is called a berry. This is a good commer- 
cial classification, though not botanically correct. 
292. The drupe, or stone fruit. — Examine a section of a 
green plum, peach, or cherry, before the stone has hardened, 
and tell from what part it is formed. This stony covering, 
composed of the inner layer of the pericarp, and enveloping 
the seed like an outer coat, is the main dis- 
tinction between the drupe and the berry, 
but it is not always possible to make out its 
real nature except by an examination of the 
young ovary. In a green drupe, before the 
stone has hardened, its connection with the Rr et Som 
fleshy part is very evident, and the ripe fruit drupe. (After 
will answer inquiries if we know how to put eae 
them. Open the stone, and the seed will be exposed with its 
own coverings inside. When a stone has more than one 
kernel,—for instance, an almond or peach stone, — the 
stone is not a seed coat, but the hardened inner wall of a 
seed vessel or ovary; for a seed coat can never contain more 
than one seed, any more than the same skin can contain 
more than one animal. 
All the fruits considered in this section belong to the fleshy 
class. These form the bulk of the fruits sold in the market, 
and are of special importance to the horticulturist. 
Practical Questions 
1. Is the tomato horticulturally a fruit or a vegetable? the squash? 
eggplant ? cranberry? olive? elderberry? pepper? date? maypop? crab 
apple? black haw? To what class does each belong? (283, 288-292.) 
