306 



DEHISCENT FETJITS. 



I suspend or hang), applied to this fruit. By some authors the term 



schizocarp {syjZfi), I split) is applied to such dry fruits consisting of one or 

 more; one-seeded or few-seeded, indehiscent carpels. 

 In Geraniacese the axis is prolonged beyond the 

 carpels, forming a carpophore, to which the styles 

 are attached, and the pericarps separate from below 

 upwards, before dehiscing by their ventral suture 

 (fig. 551). Carpels of this kind are called cocci 

 (xoxxog, kernel), and the fruit is said to be tricoc- 

 cous, etc., according to the number of separate 

 carpels. In the case of many Euphorbiacese, as 

 Hura crepitans, the cocci separate with great 



force and elasticity, the cells being called dissilient (dissilio, I burst 



asunder). 



In the Siliqua, or fruit of CruciferBe, as Wallflower (fig, 552), the 



valves separate from the base of the fruit, leaving a central replwm, or 



Fig. 550. 



...p 



Fig. 551. Fig, 562. Pig. 653. 



frame, r. The replum is considered as being formed by parietal 

 placentas, which remain attached to the fibro-vascular line of the 

 suture, the valves giving way on either side of the suture. In Orchi- 

 dacese (fig. 553) the pericarp, when ripe, separates into three valves, 



Fig. 650. Fruit or cremocarp of PraDgos uloptera, an umbelliferous plant. Fruit some- 

 times caUed schizocarp. The carpels, mericarps, or acheenia, c c, separate from the axis, a, 

 and are each suspended by a carpophore, s s. Persistent styles with swollen bases, formed 

 by an epigynous disk. Fig. 551 . Fruit or mature carpel of Geranium sanguineum. c. Persis- 

 tent calyx, a. Axis prolonged as a beak, t t, the styles at first united to the beak, and 

 afterwards separating from below upwards, along with the carpels, o o, which dehisce by 

 their ventral suture, s. Stigmas. The fruit is sometimes called gynobasic. Fig. 552. 

 Siliqua of Cheiranthus Cheiri, Wallflower, dehiscing by two valves, v v, which separate from 

 a frame or replum, r. g, Seeds arranged on either margin, s, Two-lobed stigma. Fig. 

 553. Capsule of Orchis maculata at the period of dehiscence, c. Remains of the perianth 

 crowning the fruit, v v, Segments of the pericarp which are detached in the form of valves. 

 p p. Arched repla or placentas which remain persistent, and bear the seeds. 



