Fruits and Seeds 



289 



As instances of the former we may mention the wild gera- 

 niums, and all members of the pea and bean family {Legit- 

 minosa) ; of the latter, the six well-known winter fruits, viz., 

 the " hips " of the wild rose, the "haws" of the hawthorn, 

 and the " berries " of the privet, ivy, holly, and mistletoe. 

 With fruits which open and scatter their seeds we are little 

 concerned in these notes. We may conveniently arrange the 

 others under five heads : — 



(1) The Achene, e.g., the dry, single-seeded fruit of each 

 floret of the dandelion, and the numerous achenes of the 

 buttercup. 



(2) The Drupe. — Stone fruits with three coverings— the skin, 

 the fleshy part, and the " stone " containing the seed. 



(3) The Nut, e.g., the hazel (single-seeded). We may 

 specially allude to the Brazil nut, to correct the popular 

 notion that these nuts grow upon the tree in the manner in 

 which they are bought in shops. A large number of the nuts 

 are contained in a very hard case, sometimes as large as a 

 child's head. Humboldt has observed that nothing conveys a 

 more forcible idea of the luxuriant plant-life of the Tropics 

 than these enormous woody pericarps. A specimen trans- 

 versely divided to show the nuts within should find a place in 

 the botanical section of all educational museums. 



(4) The Apple. — The " core " is a membranous endocarp ; 

 the five carpels of the pistil are buried in the very fleshy 

 receptacle. 



(5) The Berry. — Besides the wild berries mentioned above, 

 we may take as types the oranges, melons, grapes and cur- 

 rants of commerce. The pericarp, at first thick and fleshy, 

 when fully ripe is soft and sweet, the seeds, " pips, ,; being 

 imbedded in the pulp. 



The dispersal of fruits and seeds may be effected in four 

 ways : by the plant itself, by water, by air, and by animals. 

 Our autumn berries are usually dispersed by birds, the 

 brilliant colours of some of them proving irresistibly alluring. 

 Thrushes seem to have a predilection for holly berries and 



