CHAPTER IX 
THE FRUIT AND THE SEED . 
THE FRUIT 
The term fruit, in the botanical sense, is used to denote that 
part of the plant in which the seeds are found. It consists es- 
sentially of the ripe ovary, but it may also include other floral 
parts which are connected with the ovary. The name frut, used 
in this sense, includes much more than the popular term /ruit ; 

Fia. 246. Collective fruit of mulberry 
Left, a female flower (x 8); center, entire fruit (x 14); right, single mature 
fruit in which the fleshy portion consists of enlarged calyx (x 3) 
it embraces not only what are generally known as fruits but 
also some vegetables, and even dry, inedible structures. To 
the botanist cucumbers, tomatoes, or bean pods with the included 
seeds are just as truly fruits as are apples and oranges. 
Collective and aggregate fruits. Most fruits are structures de- 
rived from one ovary in one flower. In some cases a number of 
separate flowers may form a collective fruit (Figs. 246, 247, 256) as 
in the pineapple. In other cases an aggregate fruit may be formed 
from several ovaries produced in one flower (Figs. 248, 249). 
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