THE FEurr. 
81 
ly to be distinguished from the peduncle ; but in compouna 
flowers it is expanded, and furnishes a support for the flowers 
and fruit. Receptacles are of various kinds, as : Proper ^ which 
supports but one flower, as in the violet and lily. Commony 
w^hich supports many florets, the assemblage of which forms au 
aggregate or compound flower, as in the sunflower and dande- 
lion. The common receptacle presents a great variety of forms , 
as, concave^ convex^ flat^ conical^ or splierical. In the fig it is 
concave, and constitutes the fruit. As to its surface, the recep- 
tacle is punctate^ as in the daisy ; hairy ^ as in the thistle ; naked^ 
as in the dandelion ; chaffy^ as in the chamomile. It is pulpy in 
the strawberry, but dry in most plants. Rachis is the filiform 
receptacle which connects the florets in a spike, as in a head of 
wheat. 
We shall, in our next lecture, proceed to consider the change which takes place 
after the bloom and beauty of the plant have faded. We shall find organs, at first 
scarcely perceptible, beginning to develop themselves, until the character of the 
fruit is fully exhibited. So, in the heart of youth, the germs of virtue or vice may, 
for a while, be apparently dormant and inactive, but growing more vigorous and 
powerful, they at length unfold themselves, and reveal either a character matured 
into what is lovely and desirable, or marked with qualities of a disagreeable and 
deleterious natm'e. 
LECTUEE XY. 
THE FRUIT. PEEICARP. PARTS OF THE PERICARP. MIRBEL S CLASSI- 
FICATION OF FRUITS. 
The Fruit. 
86. The fruit is composed of two principal parts, the pe7'iGarp 
and seed. The term pericarp (from peri, around, karpos, fruit) 
signifies, surroundhig the seed. All, in any fruit, which is not 
the seed, belongs to the pericarp. 
Let us now inquire into the progress of the fruit from its first 
appearance in the germ to its mature state. On cutting the 
ovary horizontally, we see minute bodies of a pale-green color 
and an apparently homogeneous nature : each of these is called 
an ovule. These ovules, before the fertilization of the germ by 
the pollen, are scarcely perceptible ; after this period, and the 
fading of the corolla, the ovules increase in size, and the em« 
bryo and other parts which constitute the seed become manifest. 
The ovary enlarges with the growth of the ovules / the use of 
this covering is not confined to the mere protection of the seeds 
Wfcat IS the proper receptacle ?— What the common ? — What i« the rachis ? — Reflection. — 86. Fruit 
Ihe two pnacipal parts — Derivation and signification ot tlie word pericarp — Ovary — Ovules. 
4* 
