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PERICARPIUM

Volume 8 · 101 words · 1778 Edition

(from περι, "round," and καρπος, "fruit,") the seed-vessel; an ential of the plant big with seeds, which it discharges when ripe. The seed-vessel is in fact the developed seed-bud, and may very properly be compared to the fecundated ovary in animals; for it does not exist till after the fertilizing of the seeds by the male-dust, and the consequent fall of the flower. All plants, however, are Perichoruses not furnished with a seed-vessel; in such as are deprived of it, the receptacle or calyx performs its functions—Perimeter, by inclosing the seeds, as in a matrix, and accompanying them to perfect maturity.