FLOWERS AND FRUIT 27 



a single blossom or a cluster ; there will be no rigorous 

 adherence to an exact classification ; no attempt made to 

 distinguish between fruits formed from a simple pistil 

 and those from a compound one ; nor generally between 

 those formed from a single and those formed from a clus- 

 ter of flowers. The fruit and its general classification, 

 determined by the parts easily seen, is all that will be 

 attempted. 



As stated before, it is hoped that this volume will not 

 end the student's work in the investigation of natural 

 objects, but that the amount of information here given 

 will lead to the desire for much more. 



Berry will be the term applied to all fleshy fruits with 

 more than one seed buried in the mass. Persimmon, Mul- 

 berry, Holly. The pome or Apple-pome differs from the 

 berry in the fact that the seeds are situated in cells formed 

 of hardened material. Apple, Mountain-ash. The Plum 

 or Cherry drupe includes all fleshy fruits with a single 

 stony-coated part, even if it contains more than one seed. 

 Peach, Viburnum, China-tree. In some cases, when there 

 is but one seed in the flesh and that not stony-coated, it 

 will be called a drupe-like berry. 



The dry drupe is like the Cherry drupe except that the 

 flesh is much harder. The fruit of the Walnut, Hickory, 

 and Sumac. 



The inner hard-coated parts of 

 these and some others will be 

 called nuts. If the nut has a par- 

 tial scaly covering, as in the Oaks, 

 the whole forms an acorn. 

 If the coating has spiny 

 hairs, as in the Chestnut and 

 Beechnut, the whole is a bur. The 

 coating in these cases is an in- 

 volucre. If the coating or any 

 part of the fruit has a regular 

 place for splitting open, it is de- Fig. 11. 



