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Rh term fruit is applied to the seed or seeds and their adhesive and protective coverings.

A simple or single fruit is produced by a single flower (a Nut), and an aggregate fruit is formed by the union of several flowers (a Mulberry). Fruits may be either dry or succulent, dehiscent or indehiscent; that is, they either open when ripe to allow of the escape of the seeds, or else fall off without opening. Dehiscent fruits, which are short and broad, are generally called capsules; and when long, and containing several seeds in a row, they are pods or legumes. Sometimes the pod is longitudinal, divided by a partition through the middle into two seed-chambers (figs. 94-6); in