THE FRUIT 65 
wither and fall off. One part of the flower the ovary (or 
ovaries) always remains to furnish a protective covering 
for the ripening seeds. The receptacle and the calyx may 
also persist—but the stamens and corolla almost always 
wither and drop, and hence take no part in the formation 
of the fruit. 
We may for our purpose divide “fruit” into (1) Simple 
fruits or those produced by a single ovary, consisting of 
one or more carpels or chambers ; (2) Compound fruits, 
made up of a number of simple fruits. 
1 
SIMPLE FRUITS (DRY). 
The Pea, The fruit of the Pea consists of a pod; 
which is the enlarged ovary composed of one carpel. The 
pod readily splits into two 
portions, the junction between 
the two halves being well 
marked. The seeds, which 
are soft and succulent when 
young, are attached by short 
stalks to the inner and front surface of 
the pod, along the line junction. When 
ripe, the seeds are hard and dry, and the 
pod splits along both back and front 
margins in order to liberate the ripened 
seeds. Such a fruit is called a legume— 
other examples will be found in the broad 
bean, French Bean, Clover, etc., ete. 
The Wallflower. The pistil is the 
only portion of the flower which remains 
after fertilisation. As the seed ripens, 
the ovary, which consists of two carpels, 
increases greatly in size. At last the wall 
of the ovary splits in such a way as to ‘ig, 52., Biliqua 
E 
Fig. 51.—Fruit of Pea. 
