SIMPLE PODS 



261 



305. The carpels of the columbine open by the 

 ventral side or suture. The different carpels are 

 not united, so that the plant produces five fruits 

 from each flower. The columbine 

 is, therefore, said to be apocarpous 

 (the carpels not organically united) , 

 whereas pistils made up of several 

 carpels — that is, compound pistils — 

 are said to be syncarpous 



305a. A suture is a juncture, seam, or 

 place of union. Does the columbine 

 produce five pods, or may some of the pistils 

 perish in the struggle for existence ? 



3056. Dry dehiscent fruits or pericarps 

 are known under the general name of 

 pods. A pod which opens by the 

 ventral suture alone, as the columbine 

 does, is a follicle. 



306. A bean pod is 

 shown in Fig. 248. It 

 differs from the columbine 

 pod in the fact that it 

 opens on both edges, — on 

 both the ventral and dorsal sutures. 

 a pod is a legume. 



This kind of 



306a. Do all pods of peas and beans open by both sutures ? 

 Examine the garden peas. In order to determine the manner of 

 dehiscence of any pod, examine it when fully ripe and dry. 



3066. When a fruit dehisces into two or more parts, the sepa- 



