54 AUSTRALIAN BOTANY. 



more seeds, each in the middle of a thin membrane: — 

 Elm, ash, sycamore, maple. 



Achene. — A dry, not fleshy, one-seeded indehiscent 

 carpel : — Native and English buttercup, thistle, rose 

 (achenes in a hollow receptacle), dandelion, Australian 

 virgin's bower, artichoke, and strawberry, containing 

 many one-seeded carpels. 1 In the last mentioned the 

 receptacle forms itself into a fleshy body, and the minute 

 achenes spread over the surface. 



Legume. — A two-valved pod, both valves opening to dis- 

 charge the seeds : — Pea, native scarlet-runner, bean, spurious 

 or Victorian sarsaparilla, black, silver, and golden wattles. 



Siliqua- and Silicula. — A kind of pod composed of two 

 carpels : — Wallflower, radish, stock, cabbage, turnip, water- 

 cress, and all Cruciferae. 



Lomentum. — A legume with cross divisions, having a 

 seed in each division. Some Acacias and Cassias. The 

 Queensland cigar Cassia is a good example. 



Caryopsis. — A dry indehiscent fruit, closely united to the 



1 It must be borne in mind by the student that a carpel is a modified 

 leaf, of which there maybe several composing the pistil; also one of 

 the small parts of which compound fruits are composed. Therefore 

 the fruit as well as the pistil may be said to be composed of one or 

 more carpels. 



The carpels or ovaries on the outside of the strawberry are the 

 produce of a single flower, and the fleshy portion on which they rest is 

 called a torus. The numerous carpels of the mulberry and the pine 

 apple are the produce of not one, but of as many distinct flowers. The 

 small nut-like bodies in the inside of a fig are fruits, each having a' 

 distinct ovary and flower of its own. 



2 The siliqua is elongated, and differs from the legume in the valves 

 dehiscing from a frame-work to which seeds are attached. The silicula 

 is much shorter, or broader than long, and contains fewer seeds. The 

 latter has sometimes a double placenta or part to which the seeds are 

 attached by the funiculus (cord). 



