90 
MIRBEL'S CLASSIFICATION OF FRUITS. 
it is indeJdscent, (not opening when ripe ;) monospermo'us, (having one 
seed;) the egret (c) is sessile and plumose, and the embryo is dico- 
tyledonous and fleshy. At 6, is the same pericarp, cut longitudinallyj 
and exposing, an inner half of one of the cotyledons. In this genus 
are the pericarps of the Dandelion, the Oyster-plant, Lettuce, &c. 
Cerion;'^ in this genus the embr3''o is situated upon the side of the 
perisperm ; cotyledon one, large and fleshy. The germ is clothed 
with a pileole;-\ the radicles are contained in coleorhizes. The fruit 
of Indian-corn, wheat, of the grasses and rice, are found here. 
Carcerula ;% the characters of this genus are variable ; it includes 
all fruits of the order Carcerulares, which do not come within the 
two preceding genera ; the buckwheat, elm, and- rhubarb, are ex- 
amples. 
Order 2d. Capsulares, simple fruits, having 
capsules which open v/hen in a mature state ; 
they have their origin from a single ovary, 
free, or adhering to the calyx; they have 
valves, and consequently sutures, and open by 
the separation of the valves. 
Capsule. You see here, (Fig. 94,) a capsu- 
lar fruit ; it is the seed of the martagon-lily, 
(Liliuw martagon ;) a, represents the cap- 
sule open, as it appears in a mature state ; 6, 
the same cut transversely, showing the seeds. 
All capsular fruits which do not belong to the 
other genera in this order, are here included. 
They are monocephalous, as in thehly, orpo- 
lycephalous, as in Nigella ; they do not adhere 
to the calyx, and have one or many cells. 
Leg-icme, is an iri^gular, bivalve, elonga- 
ted pericarp ; it is monocephalous, free, the 
two valves joined by two sutures, an upper 
and lower ; it contains seeds in one cell, a placenta along the 
lower suture. The embryo has two cotyledons, and a radicle bor- 
dering on the hilum. The legume is sabre-form in the bean ; cylin- 
dric in the Cassia, compound in the pea, and articulated in Hedy- 
sarum, where it is called a loment. 
Fig. 95, a, repre- 
sents the fruit of the 
Ast7'agalus ; it is 
swollen ; the cell is 
longitudinal ; b is the 
same legume cut 
j^,^ transversely in order 
^^S' 95. to show the two cells. 
Siliqiie, a bivalved pericarp, peculiar to the CritcifercB, having its 
seeds attached to both the upper and lower valves. The silique is 
divided by a longitudinal partition, formed by the dilated placenta, 
and bearing the seeds. 
* The same as caryopsis. 
t For an illustration of these terms, see plate 115, with its explanation, or the vo- 
cabulary. 
t This includes what some call the iitride, others the scleranthus, or samara. 
Cerion— Carcerula— Order Capsulares— Genus Capsule— Legume— Silique. 
