108 SOUTH AFRICAN BOTANY 
case of the indehiscent fruits, vertical and longitudinal sections 
should be cut and sketched. 
2. Collect examples of the various methods of seed dispersal. 
This can easily be done in May, June and July. 
QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER VII. 
1. Select any four plants, belonging to different Natural 
Orders, whose mechanisms for seed distribution you have 
studied. Name the plants you select, and the Orders to 
which they belong; briefly describe the fruits, and explain 
how the seeds are distributed. Make sketches where possible. 
2. Describe the following fruits, giving examples and 
sketches: Nut, Siliqua, Drupe, Samara, Pome, Berry, Follicle. 
3. Write a short essay on the dispersal of seeds and fruits 
by animals, and specially indicate any adaptive structures in 
the seed or fruit which ensure such dispersal. 
4. How are fruits classified? What agents have caused the 
evolution of so many different kinds ? 
5. What is a fruit? Describe the following fruits: Peach, 
Apple, Orange, Gooseberry, Grape, Strawberry. What is the 
nature of the edible portion in each case ? 
6. Compare the three chief methods by which fruits are 
dispersed, paying special attention to— 
(a) The efficiency of the method ; 
(b) The economy of the method. 
7. Define a fruit botanically, and give the reasons why the 
following cannot be considered fruits in the strict botanical 
sense: strawberry, apple, pineapple. 
8. Describe in botanical language the following fruits: (1) 
the fig ; (2) the acorn ; (3) the pineapple; (4) the cocoa-nut. 
9. Mention with examples several mechanical devices which 
aid in the distribution and sowing of seeds. 
