Flower And Fruit 181

4. The nut, as in the hazel, oak, and tawhai or native
beech (usually alluded to as birch) has a hard woody
pericarp forming a shell. The coconut, brazil nut, and
walnut, as will be seen later, are not nuts at all.

The capsule (Fig. 116) is typical of dry dehiscent
fruits. It is formed from several united carpels, and
may be one-chambered, as in the violet and orchid, or
serveal-chambered, as in the lily. The following fruits
are after the nature of capsules:-

1. A legume or pod, seen in the bean, pea, and
kowhai, is a one-celled fruit formed from a superior
ovary derived from a single carpel. The seeds are
along the ventral suture, and the fruit dehisces along
both ventral and dorsale sutures.

2. The follicle is like a pod, except that it splits
along the ventral suture only. This is seen in the
individual members of the aggregate fruits of the
columbine and in the rewarewa(Knightia).

3. The siliqua is the characteristic fruit of the wall-
flower and turnip family. It is formed from a superior
overy derived from two carpels which have united by
their edges. The first is the two-celled owing to an in-
growth from the placentae forming a septum. The fact
that the ovules have not been carried in by this
ingrowth shows that the septum is not due to the
infolding of the carpellary leaves. It is therefore
called a false septum. This fruit dehisces by the
breaking away of the carplellary leaves, the seeds
remaining attached to the placenta at the margins of
the false septum.

4. A silicula is of the same nature as the siliqua
but is shorter, broader, and flatter. This is seen in
honesty and shepherd's purse.

Schizocarps (Gk. schizo I split, and karpos fruit),
are dry fruits (Fig. 117) that split up into a number
of dry, one-seeded, generally indehiscent fruits
resembling achenes. Such fruits are those of the