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PHARMACEUTICAL BOTANY 
THE FRUIT 
The fruit consists of the matured pistil (carpel or carpels) and 
contents, or ovarian portion thereof, but may include other organs 
of the flower which frequently are adnate to and ripen with it. 
Thus in the Apples, Pears and Quinces, the receptacle becomes thick 
and succulent, surrounds the carpels during the ripening process and 
forms the edible portion of these fruits. In Dandelion, Arnica, and 
many other members of the Composite, the modified calyx or pappus 
adheres to the ovary during its maturation into the fruit and renders 
the fruit buoyant. In Gaultheria the calyx becomes fleshy, sur¬ 
rounds the ovary, reddens, and forms the edible part of the fruit. In 
Physalis the calyx enlarges considerably and encloses the ovary in an 
inflated colored bladder. Involucres frequently persist around and 
mature with the fruits. These may be membranous as in Anthemis, 
Matricaria and other Composites, leathery and prickly as in the Chest¬ 
nuts, scaly woody cups (cupules) as in the Oaks, or foliaceous cups as 
in the Filberts. Occasionally, as in the Fig, Osage Orange, Mul¬ 
berry, etc., the fruit may consist of the ripened flower cluster or 
inflorescence. 
Fruit Structure 
The Pericarp, or seed vessel, is the ripened wall of the ovary, and in 
general the structure of the fruit wall resembles that of the ovary, but 
undergoes numerous modifications in the course of development. 
The number of cells of the ovary may increase or decrease, the 
external surface may change from soft and hairy in the flower to hard, 
and become covered with sharp, stiff prickles, as in the Datura 
Stramonium or Jamestown weed. Transformations in consistence 
may take place and the texture of the wall of the ovary may become 
hard and bony as in the Filbert, leathery, as the rind of the Orange, 
or assume the forms seen in the Gourd, Peach, Grape, etc. 
Frequently the pericarp consists for the most part of other ele¬ 
ments than the ripened ovarian wall and is then termed a pseudocarp 
or anthocarp. The pericarp consists of three layers of different tex¬ 
ture, viz.: epicarp, mesocarp and endocarp. The epicarp is the 
outer layer. The mesocarp the middle, and the endocarp the inner 
