Why, the ovary, as you call it, swells out. But what makes the fruit?
That fleshy substance around the seeds, of which you are so fond, is merely the swollen Pericarp, or covering of the seed vessel. Children’s teeth should not go into the pericarp until the seeds are about ripe.
I know that. When a pear is nice and mellow, then the seeds within are quite hard. But would you call the pod of the pea a pericarp?
Certainly. It consists of two valves, with hinges, and the seed on each side. Sometimes there are several valves together, and we call the whole a Capsule. When these burst, the seeds fall out.
But how are the seeds produced?
We are coming to that next. I told you of the bursting of the anther, and the scattering of the pollen. Though much of the dust is wasted, a part is caught on the glutinous stigma of the pistil.
And what becomes of it then?
It passes down the hollow style into the ovary at the bottom.
Yet I have seen flowers in which the pistil was higher than the stamens; how could the pollen reach it?
Many curious contrivances effect the transfer. The wind blows the yellow dust. A bird throws some about. An insect catches some on its wings and legs, and stepping on the stigma, leaves pollen behind.