he life of flowers consist essentially of the
Seed and Husk,--these being, in certain cases, sustained, surrounded, or
provided with means of motion, by other parts of the plant; or by
developments of their own form which require in each case distinct names.
Thus the white cushion of the dandelion to which its brown seeds are
attached, and the personal parachutes which belong to each, must be
separately described for that species of plants; it is the little brown
thing they sustain and carry away on the wind, which must be examined as
the essential product of the floret;--the 'seed and husk.'

12. Every seed has a husk, holding either that seed alone, or other seeds
with it.

Every perfect seed consists of an embryo, and the substance which first
nourishes that embryo; the whole enclosed in a sack or other sufficient
envelope. Three essential parts altogether. {235}

Every perfect husk, vulgarly pericarp, or 'round-fruit,'--(as periwig,
'round-wig,')--consists of a shell, (vulgarly endocarp,) rind, (vulgarly
mesocarp,) and skin, (vulgarly epicarp); three essential parts altogether.
But one or more of these parts may be effaced, or confused with another;
and in the seeds of grasses they all concentrate themselves into bran.

13. When a husk consists of two or more parts, each of which has a separate
shaft and volute, uniting in the pillar and volute of the flower, each
separate piece of the husk is called a 'carpel.' The name was first given
by De Candolle, and must be retained. But it continually happens that a
simple husk divides into two parts corresponding to the two leaves of the
embryo, as in the peach, or symmetrically holding alternate seeds, as in
the pea. The beautiful drawing of the pea-shell with its seeds, in
Rousseau's botany, is the only one I have seen which rightly shows and
expresses this arrangement.

14. A Fruit is either the husk, receptacle, petal, or other part of a
flower _external to the seed_, in which chemical changes have taken place,
fitting it for the most part to become pleasant and healthful food for man,
or other living animals; but in some cases making it bitter or poisonous to
them, and the enjoyment of it depraved or deadly. But, as far as we know,
it is without any definite office to the seed it contains; and the change
takes {236} place entirely to fit the plant to the service of animals.[66]

In its perfection, the Fruit Gift is limited to a temperate zone, of which
the polar l