THE FRUIT AND THE SEED Zito 
Berries. Fleshy, indehiscent, few-seeded to many-seeded fruits 
are known as berries (Figs. 266, 267). The word berry, like the 
word fruit or the word nut, has thus very different botanical 
and popular meanings. The date is a one-seeded berry, as the 
~ Stone”’ is the seed and not the endocarp. Tomatoes, grapes, 






a or chico Fig. 267. Cross section of berry 
(Achras sapota). (x 4) of cucumber. (x }) 
and bananas are berries, while oranges, cucumbers (Fig. 267), 
melons, and apples are examples of special classes of berries. 
Classification inexact. In discussing the different types of 
fruits it is convenient to use some such classification as that 
given above, although it should be realized that any classifica- 
tion must be arbitrary and in many cases inexact. The fruit 
of the balsam (Fig. 288) is a somewhat fleshy capsule. Many 
capsules have no regular method of dehiscence. 
THE SEED 
A seed is a structure developed from an ovule. It consists of an 
embryo, stored food which may be either in or around the embryo, 
and one or two coverings called seed coats (Figs. 268, 269). 
The embryo. This consists of a small undeveloped shoot called 
the plumule, a cylindric structure known as the radicle, which will 
develop into a root, and one or two large leaves which are the 
cotyledons, or seed leaves (Figs. 268, 270). Plants with one coty- 
ledon (Figs. 303, 804) are called monocotyledons, while those 
with two (Fig. 268) are called dicotyledons. 
