58 



DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



or skin of all fruits, and dehiscence for the manner in 

 ■which fruits burst or open and discharge their seeds. 

 Many fruits are indehiscent (not opening), such as plum 

 and gooseberry, which fall to the ground and rot. 



Fructification is a term applied to the reproductive 

 parts of the flower, but more especially to plants in fruit. 



Seeds. (L. semenj G. sperma.) 



On opening a pea-pod the seeds will be seen attached 

 to the pod by a short cord rising from the eye of the pea, 

 called the funiculus, or umbilical cord, which when ripe 

 separates, and a mark or scar is seen, called the hihim 

 or eye of the pea, as the black scar in the bean and 

 white scar in the scarlet-runner. Seeds vary as much in 

 size and form as fruits, the poppy and horse-chestnut 

 being familiar examples. Some tropical trees, such as 

 Carapa and Mora, have seeds as large as a good sized 

 apple, but are far exceeded by the double cocoa-nut, 

 which often weighs from 30 to 40 lbs. The smooth 

 bright seeds of Princess feather and flax present a strong 

 contrast to the rough and unshapely ones of Martynia 

 prohoscidea, which is a black hard body with two long 

 horn-like hooks, having more the appearance of a stag- 

 beetle than the seed of a plant. 



Hitherto I have spoken of the exterior appearance, 

 called the coat or covering ; it is now necessary to notice 

 the interior. The substance that forms the bulk of a 

 seed, with the position and direction of the embryo, and 

 its manner of germination, presents many curious pheno- 

 mena, which are too numerous to be mentioned. It is 

 sufficient to state that seeds in general are furnished with 

 two skins or coats, called the integument, for protecting 

 the ovule and embryo, being analogous to the shell and 



