COLONIZATION 323 



plant species is secured by the launching of posterity on a 

 career of colonization, whereby it is not only able to 

 multiply within due limitations, but also to " replenish 

 and subdue the earth." In this regard we shall here 

 take into account only the seed-producing plants. 



The product of fertilization in Gymnosperms (p. 179) 

 is a naked seed, but in the higher flowering plants— 

 i.e., Angiosperms — it is fertile seed enclosed and pro- 

 tected in a fruit. Fertilization afiects more than the 

 ovules; it also induces changes and developments in 

 the ovary in which they are contained, and sometimes 

 in other floral parts in addition. The ovary becomes 

 the fruit containing the seeds. Thus, the " pod " of the 

 Pea is a fruit developed from the ovary of the pistil. 

 What passes in ordinary parlance as " the fruit " in the 

 Strawberry is the floral receptacle become succulent, 

 attractive in colour, and luscious. The real fruits of this 

 plant are the little dry " achenes " borne on the surface 

 of the toothsome receptacle. The true fruits of the Rose 

 are contained in a receptacle that becomes succulent and 

 externally coloured; the brilliant " hip " is not the 

 fruit, but the protective covering of the fruits so beauti- 

 fully packed within its interior. The core of the Apple 

 is the real fruit, and the fleshy part in which we delight 

 is the floral receptacle become succulent as a result of 

 fertilization. In common parlance the term " fruit " is 

 very loosely used, being generally applied to a floral 

 product which is good to eat, or perhaps poisonous; but 

 the term implies much more to the botanist, it suggests 

 more than apples and pears, gooseberries or cherries, and 

 embraces a large number of seed-containing forms 

 which make no gastronomic appeal. 



