Flowering and its Results. 119 



This structure is easily discernible in the pod of a pea ; the 

 under surface rough and downy, covered with stomata, and act- 

 ing like all ordinary leaves upon the air (which is a property 

 common to all leaves, no matter how transformed, while they 

 expose the chlorophylle by retaining the green color), is called the 

 epicarp ; the upper surface forms the delicate skin that lines the 

 interior of the pod, and is named the endocarp; the middle 

 juicy portion is the mesocarp. Fixing this simple explanation 

 in the mind will be the means of clearing up every difficulty 

 relative to the formation of the fruit. [ Carpos is the Greek name 

 for fruit ; Epi means upon or over ; Endo, the inside ; Meso, the 

 middle ; Peri, around.] See fig. 32. A, 'The under sutures, 

 along which are fixed the seeds ; fig. 33, A and B, the two sutures 

 to which the seeds are fastened alternately. 



The peach shows by its hairy skin, the epicarp, or under sur- 

 face of the original leaf; the juicy part is nothing more than an 

 enlargement of the mesocarp; and the contracted fibres of the 

 original upper surface of the leaf, now called the endocarp, be- 

 come indurated, and are at length converted into a shell or hol- 

 low stone, to afford a more secure shelter for the seed. A Drupe 

 or stone fruit, as this class is named, shows the contraction of the 

 endocarp by the wrinkles and seams with which the stone is 

 covered. Fig. 36 shows a drupe ; A is the nucleus or stone ; 

 B, the pulp or enlarged mesocarp. Belonging to the drupes is 

 the almond and cocoanut, which differ from the peach in hav- 

 ing the mesocarp assume the form and texture of coarse, woody 

 fibres instead of a pulpy mass. The cocoanut is a tree of the 

 palm kind; the husk of the nut is as large as a man's head; 

 when the cocoanuts have just fallen from the tree, which they 

 do when ripe, with the least motion of the wind, they are the 

 most delicious luxury of the torrid regions. Very little idea 

 can be formed of either the taste or internal appearance, from 

 the manner in which we receive them. When cracked directly 

 after falling, the inside, although white and without apparent 

 seeds, looks somewhat like an orange ; it is completely filled 

 with cells holding liquor ; these gradually dry up and cling to 

 the sides, forming the white pulpy substance which we see ; the 

 liquor runs free ; it is a foolish idea that it is absorbed by the 

 white pulp, — that only can be done when diseased ; consequently 

 cocoanuts without liquor should not be eaten. 



