Gymnospermous Fruits.—In pine, spruces, and their kin, there is no fruit in the sense in which the word is used in the preceding pages, because there is no ovary. The ovules are naked or uncovered, in the axils of the scales of the young cone, and they have neither style nor stigma. The pollen falls directly on the mouth of the ovule. The ovule ripens into a seed, which is usually winged. Because the ovule is not borne in a sac or ovary, these plants are called gymnosperms (Greek for "naked seeds"). All the true cone-bearing plants are of this class; also certain other plants, as red cedar, juniper, yew. The plants are monœcious or sometimes diœcious. The staminate flowers are mere naked stamens borne beneath scales, in small yellow catkins which soon fall. The pistillate flowers are naked ovules beneath scales on cones that persist (Fig. 29). Gymnospermous seeds may have several cotyledons.
Suggestions.—168. Study the following fruits, or any five fruits
chosen by the teacher, and answer the questions for each: Apple,
peach, bean, tomato, pumpkin. What is its form? Locate the
scar left by the stem. By what kind of a stem was it attached?
Is there any remains of the blossom at the blossom end? Describe
texture and color of surface. Divide the fruit into the seed
vessel and the surrounding part. Has the fruit any pulp or flesh?
Is it within or without the seed vessel? Is the seed vessel simple
or subdivided? What is the number of seeds? Are the seeds
free, attached to the wall of the vessel, or to a support in the
center? Are they arranged in any order? What kind of wall has
the seed vessel? What is the difference between a peach stone
and a peach seed? 169. The nut fruits are always available for
study. Note the points suggested above. Determine what the
meat or edible part represents, whether cotyledons or not. Figure
248 is suggestive. 170. Mention all the fleshy fruits you know,
tell where they come from, and refer them to their proper groups.
171. What kinds of fruits can you buy in the market, and to what
groups or classes do they belong? Of which ones are the seeds
only, and not the pericarps, eaten? 172. An ear of corn is always
available for study. What is it—a fruit or a collection of fruits?
How are the grains arranged on the cob? How many rows do
you count on each of several ears? Are all the rows on an ear
