FRUITS. 51 



Examples: — 1. When each carpel is considered to be a 

 separate fruit — Columbine, Ranunculus, raspberry, straw- 

 berry, bramble. 2. When the pistil is formed of a single 

 carpel — Pea, bean, apricot, nectarine, cherry, wheat, oat, 

 maize, etc. 



Syncarpons?- — Carpels united so as to form one ovary 

 or pistil. Examples : — Heart's-ease, violet, Iris, lily, tulip, 

 Campanula, poppy, foxglove, Datura, Syncarpia albens, 

 {Australian turpentine tree), primrose, snap-dragon, etc. 



The pericarp may be the ripened ovary by itself, or the 

 calyx-tube and ovary united. In some fruits one or more 

 of the seeds contained in the ovary may prove abortive or 

 barren before the fruit is perfected. An acorn, for example, 

 has but one cell and one seed when ripe ; yet in its early 

 stage the ovary has three cells, with two ovules in each cell. 



The pericarp is divided into three parts — 



1. The epicarp (or exocarp) — outer covering or coat. 



2. The sarcocarp (mesocarp) — fleshy or middle coat. 



3. The endocarp — inner coat. 



In the hazel-nut and walnut these parts are united into 

 one substance. 



The hard covering called the stone of a peach, apricot, 

 almond, or plum, which encloses the kernel, is termed the 

 endocarp ; see Drupe, p. 53. On examination of these inde- 

 hiscent or succulent fruits, the parts mentioned can be plainly 

 observed. The pod of the pea (p. 5, Lesson I., 'Seeds') 

 contains an epicarp, a sarcocarp, and an endocarp. The inner 

 covering of the valves of the pea-pod is the endocarp. 



The term succulent as applied to fruits means those in 

 1 Syncarpous {consolidated). 



