10 MISC. PUBLICATION 434, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



The terms "dry," ' 'pulpy," and "fleshy" as applied to fruits cannot 

 be employed with any exact meaning but at least are useful for denoting 

 the relative amounts of drying which may be necessary after the fruits 

 have matured. 



The term "drupe" denotes a single hard-coated seed ("pit" or 

 "stone") more or less evenly surrounded by a fleshy or pulpy covering. 

 The fruits of the cherry, plum, peach, apricot, hackberry, sumac, 

 Russian-olive, and walnut are all drupes within this definition. 



The term "nut" covers a multitude of forms and it is impossible to 

 place all so-called nuts in any single classification. 



Although the term "berry" has a very broad popular meaning, it will 

 be used in this discussion to denote drupe-like fruits having more than 

 1 seed embedded near the center of the fleshy or pulpy pericarp. The 

 fruits of the currant, honeysuckle, and buffaloberry are in this class, 

 as are those of most of the junipers. 



A "pome" is a fleshy or applelike fruit. The apples and crabs, pear, 

 mountain ash, serviceberry, and the hawthorn (red haw") are all 

 botanically and structurally similar in having seeds in separate papery 

 or leathery compartments, surrounded by a fleshy layer. 



The term "pod" is a loose one but its common usage is so clearly 

 associated with dry fruits in which the seeds lie more or less loosely, 

 that it cannot be misunderstood. There are, of course, elongated pods 

 like those of the honeylocusts, catalpa, and desertwillow, with which 

 we are concerned, as well as more nearly spherical pods like those of the 

 Jimsonweed and milkweed. 



A "samara" is a winged fruit of the ash, elm, or maple. In the 

 maples only, the fruits consist of two winged seeds joined at the base, 

 but each such pair results from a single flower. Pine seeds have wings 

 serving the same purpose in distribution as do the wings of samaras. 



A "capsule" is a dry fruit composed of more than one carpel. The 

 fruit of cottonwood is an example. 



Seed Collection 



When the seed is being collected, it is not too soon to consider its 

 probable viability or germin ability. The collector can do much to 

 obtain good seed and thereby assurance of high germination by exer- 

 cising careful judgment as to maturity. Immature seed is definitely 

 of lower keeping quality than well-ripened seed and of lower germinative 

 capacity. Seedlings resulting from immature seed are inclined to be 

 weak and less likely to come through early life. 



As to the time of collecting, very good rules to follow are these: 

 (1) All berries, elm seed, acorns, and the like which fall as soon as 

 thoroughly ripe should be collected as near that general falling time as 

 possible; (2) seeds which hang on the tree for a considerable time after 

 apparent ripening will generally benefit by remaining there as long as 

 it is feasible to delay collecting. 



Color of the outer covering is ordinarily considered a reliable indi- 

 cator of seed maturity. All species lose the green of the growing period 

 and the seed contents change from a soft milky consistency to a firm, 

 white or creamy-white kernel. Each fleshy or pulpy fruit, such as 

 mulberry, hackberry, plum, and chokecherry, of course, has a typical 

 red to purplish color and becomes soft when mature. Dry-fruited 



