86 BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS. ‘ (Ch. XIV 
he organs of fructification. In simple flowers, as the Tulip, the 
eceptacle is scarcely to be distinguished trom the peduncle, but in 
.ompound flowers itis expanded, and furnishes a support for the 
flowers and fruit. Receptacles are of various kinds ; as, 
346. Ist. Proper, supports but one flower, as in the Violet 
and Lily. 2d. Common, supports many flowers or ‘florets, the 
assemblage of which forms an aggregate or compound flower, 
as in the Sunflower and Dandelion. The common receptacle 
presents a great variety of forms, it is either dry or pulpy ; con- 
cave in the Artichoke ; convex in other plants ; flat, in the Sun- 
flower ; conical in some, and spherical in other plants. As to 
its surface, it is punctuate, or interspersed with hollow points or 
dots, as in the Daisy, hairy as in the Thistle, naked as in the: 
Dandelion, or chaffy as inthe Camomile. 3d. Rachis, is the: 
filiform receptacle which connects the florets in a spike, as in 
the heads of wheat. 4th. Colwmella, or pillar, is the central: 
column of the fruit, as the cob of the Indian corn. 
The Fruit. 
347. The fruit is composed of two principal parts, the peri | 
carp and seed. The term pericarp is derived from peri around, 
and karpos seed or fruit ; it signifies surrounding the seed. All 
that part in any fruit which is not the seed belongs to the peri- 
carp. 
Pericarp and Seed. 
348. The germ being fetilized, the parts of the flower which 
are not necessary for the growth of the fruit, usually fade, and 
either fall off, or wither away. The germ continues to enlarge 
until it arrives at perfection. Every kind of fruit,* you can sees 
has been once but the germ of a flower. The size of fruit is 
not usually proportioned to that of the vegetable which pro: 
duced it. The Pumpkin and the Gourd grow upon slender her: 
baceous plants, while the large Oak produces but an acorn. 
349. The pericarp consists of valves, sutures, partitions, cells 
and a receptacle. 
* The term fruit, in common language, is limited to pulpy fruit 
which are proper for food ; but in a botanical sense, the frui include: 
the seeds and pericarps of all vegetables. 
346. Mention the different kinds of receptacle. 
347. Of what is the fruit composed 2? 
248, What takes place in the flower after the germ is fertilized? 
349. Cf what does the pericarp consist 4 a 
