IKTRODUCTION. Xxiii 



pulp by the walls of the cavity or cells of the ovary, which form as it were a thin inner 

 skin or rind, called the Endocarp. 



the Drupe, in which the pericarp, when ripe, consists of two distinct portions, an 

 outer succulent one called the Sarcocarp (covered like the berry by a skin or epicarp), 

 and an inner dry endocarp oaEed the Putamen, which is either cartilaginom (of the 

 consistence of parchment) or hard and woody. In the latter case it is commonly a 

 stone, and the drupe a stone-fruit. 



158. The principal kinds of dry fruits are 



the Capsule or Pod,* which is dehiscent. When ripe the pericarp usually splits 

 longitudinally into as many or twice as many pieces, called valves, as it contains cells 

 or placentas. If these valves separate at the hne of junction of the carpels, that is, along 

 the line of the placentas or dissepiments, either splitting them or leaving them attached 

 to the axis, the dehiscence is termed septicidal ; if the valves separate between the 

 placentas or dissepiment, the dehiscence is loculicidal, and the valves either bear the 

 placentas or dissepiments along their middle Kne, or leave them attached to the axis. 

 Sometimes also the capsule discharges its seeds by slits, ehinJcs, or pores, more or less 

 regularly arranged, or bursts irreguUiirly, or separates into two parts by a horizontal 

 hne ; in the latter case it is said to be cirtyumsciss. ^ 



the Nut or Achene, which is indebiscent and contains but a single seed. When the 

 pericarp is thin in proportion to the seed it encloses, the whole fruit (or each of its 

 lobes) has the appearance of a single seed, and is so called in popular language. If the 

 pericarp is thin and rather loose, it is often called an Utricle. A Samara is a nut with 

 a wing at its upper end. 



159. Where the carpels of the ovary are distinct (125) they may severally become 

 as many distinct berries, drupes, capsules, or achenes. Separate carpels are usually 

 more or less compressed laterally, with more or less prominent inner and outer 

 edges, caRed sutwes, and, if dehiscent, the carpel usually opens at these sutures. A 

 Follicle is a carpel opening at the inner suture only. In some cases where the carpels 

 are united in the ovary they will separate when ripe ; they are then called Cocci if one- 

 seeded. 



160. The peculiar fruits of some of the large Orders have received special names, 

 which will be explained under each Order. Such are the siliqaa and silicule of Cruci- 

 ferse, the legume of Iieguminosse, the pome of Pyrus and its aUies, the pepo of Oucur- 

 bitacese, the cone of ConiferEe, the grain or caryopsis of QTamiuese, etc. 



§ 14. The Seed. 



161. The Seed is enclosed in the pericarp in the great majority of flowering plants, 

 called therefore Angiosperms, or angiospermous plants. In Conifera and a very few 

 allied genera, caUed Qymnosperms, or gymnospermous planfs,t'he seed is naked, without 

 any real pericarp. These truly gymnospermous plants must not be confounded with 

 Laliatte, Soraginece, etc., which have also been falsely caUed gymnospermous, then: 

 small nuts having the appearance of seeds (158). . „„. 



162 The seed when ripe contains an emhryo or young plant, either fillmg or nearly 

 filling the cavity, but not attached to the outer skin or the seed, or more or less nn- 

 mersed in a mealy, oUy, fleshy, or horn-like substance, called the albumen, or peri- 

 sperm The presence or absence of this albumen, that is, the distinction between albw 

 minous and exallvminous seeds, is one of gre^t importance. The embryo or albumen 

 can often only be found or distinguished when the seed is qmte npe, or sometunes only 

 when it begins to germinate. , , , ^, i i. 



163 The shell of the seed consists usuaUy of two separable coats. The outer coat, 

 called the testa, is usuaUy the principal one, and in most cases the only one attended 

 to in descriptions. It may be hard and crustaceous, woody or bony, or thm and »»m- 

 Iranous (sldii-like), dry, or rarely succulent. It is sometimes expanded mto my, 

 or bears a tuft of hair, cotton, or wool, called a coma. The mner coat is oaUed the 

 tegmen. 



* In English descriptions, pod is more frequently used when it is long and narrow; oaji.«te, or 

 sometimes %<mch, when it is shbrt and thick or tiroad. 



