THE FRUIT AND ITS ENVELOPES, 



95 



carjj, separating for tlie most part, when ripe, into 

 valves, or at least opening in some definite and 

 determinate manner ; it is seen in the snow drop, 

 bell flower, and poppy. It is one valved, as in 

 primula,two valved as in cercoa, many valved 

 as in oxalis, or without valves, as in the ash. In 

 the lily the valves are vertical, in anagaUis they 

 are transverse, in meadow safiron they are intro- 

 flected. It is one celled as in the violet, two 

 celled in veronica, three celled in the iris, or 

 many celled as in the andromeda, Tn convol- 

 volus, the partitions are central, in the poppy 

 they are marginal and incomplete, in the tulip 

 they are perpendicular to the valves, and in the 

 water lily they bear the seed. In the iris, the 

 opening is longitudinal, in h/diciamus it is 

 horizontal, in silene it is at the apex, in ph/- 

 iuna at the side, and the triglochin at the base. 

 In some cases the varieties of form and struc- 

 ture which the capsule assumes, are so striking 

 or peculiar as to have been thought worthy of 

 being designated by proper names, as the utricle, 

 samara, bag, and coccus. The utricle is a small 

 and bladder-like capsule, without valves, consist- 

 ing of one cell, and one seed, as seen in the cle- 

 matis and cheropodium. In gallimn it is light, 

 closely investing the seed ; in adonis and thalic- 

 trum, it is loose. In amarcmthis it bursts hori- 

 zontally in the middle, and in cheropodium it is 

 BO tender as to be easily rubbed off with the finger. 



The samara is a compressed and leathery cap- 

 sule, of one or two cells, but without valves, 

 terminating in a membranaceous wing or border, 

 and falling off entire with the contained seed by 

 which it is irregularly burst open in the process 

 of germination, as in the ash, elm, and maple. 



The bag is an elongated and leathery capsule, 

 consisting of one valve and one cell, and opening 

 longitudinally on the one side. It is sometimes 

 single, but more frequently double, with the 

 seeds loose or attached to a proper receptacle, 

 which is generally the edge of the seam by which 

 it opens, as is seen in the genus vinca or poeoma. 



The coccus is a dry and elastic capsule, of two 

 or more lobes joined together, each forming a 

 cell, and containing a seed, but separating, when 

 ripe, from the axis, and bursting longitudinally 

 into two valves united at the base. It is two 

 celled, as in mercurialis,ihYee ceQ.ed.in. euphorbia, 

 many celled as in pwracrepitans, the valves of 

 which latter, it is said, when fully ripe and dry, 

 fi-equently burst open with a sudden and violent 

 jerk, so as to produce an explosion like the re- 

 port of a pistol. 



The pome is a pulpy or 

 fleshy pericarp, without 

 valves, but inclosing a 

 capsule. It is exempli- 

 fied in the familiar case 

 of the apple, from the 

 Latin appellation from Apple. 



strawberry. 



which it has taken its name. It is generally 

 of a globular or oval figui'e, as in most varieties 

 of the apple, but sometimes it is inversely coni- 

 cal, as in the pear. At the apex it is marked 

 with a small cavity, surrounded by the re- 

 mains of the calyx, which is persistent, or in 

 the language of other botanists, adherent; this 

 cavity is the umbilicus, or eye of the fruit; at 

 the base there is often also a small cavity foimed 

 by the expansion of the pome, around the in- 

 sertion of the foot stalk, which has not received 

 any particular name; in the pear, the pome 

 tapers down gradually to the point of insertion, 

 and renders the cavity less distinct. The en- 

 closed capsule is a thin and membranaceous sub- 

 stance, consisting, for the most part, of five dis- 

 tinct cells. 



The berrj/ is a soft and 

 pulpy pericarp, contain- 

 ing one or more seeds, but 

 not separating into regu- 

 lar valves, nor enclosing 

 a capsule. It is exempli- 

 fied in the common goose- 

 berry, currant, and straw- 

 berry. It is not, however, 

 always strictly succulent, 

 for in the ivy it is of a 

 dry and mealy nature, and in trientalis, it is 

 covered with a sort of brittle crust. The same 

 may be said of the gourd, melon, and cucumbei-, 

 together with the lemon, and orange, which 

 though regarded by botanists as being varieties 

 of the berry, are yet covered with a thick coat 

 or rind, which is not pulpy. The seed vessel of 

 cucurbitaceous plants is even distinguished by 

 the peculiar name oipeps, and characterized by 

 having its seeds situated remote from the axis, 

 and inserted into the sides of the fruit ; the fig- 

 ure of the berry is for the most part globular, 

 as in vaccinium, but in the strawberry it is 

 oval. In daphne, it is one seeded, in asparagus 

 it is generally two seeded, in the ivy three 

 seeded, in nympJicea many seeded. Sometimes 

 the seeds are irregularly dispersed in the pulp, 

 as in nymphma; sometimes they are attached to 

 a common receptacle, as in solarium; and occasion- 

 ally the cells are separated by regular partitions, 

 as in the lemon. In the foregoing examples the 

 beiTy is said to be simple when it consists of 

 only one ovary, but sometimes it is compound 

 when several ovaries are inserted into one mass, 

 as in the bramble and bread fi.-uit. In this case, 

 each ovary contains a seed, and the individual 

 ovaries are also farther designated by the pecu- 

 liar appellation of acini. It should be observed, 

 however, that the berry of the bramble is com- 

 posed of the united ovaries, of only a single 

 flower; while that of the bread fi-uit is com- 

 posed of the imited ovaries of many flowers. 

 Several other fi-uits, though not corresponding 



