(from fructus, "fruit,") comprehends the precise time in which, after the fall of the flowers, the fruits arrive at maturity, and disperse their seeds.

In general, plants which flower in spring, ripen their fruits in summer, as rye; those which flower in summer have their fruits ripe in autumn, as the vine; the fruit of autumnal flowers ripens in winter; or the following spring, if kept in a hove or otherwise defended from excessive frosts. These frosts, says M. Adanson, are frequently so pernicious and violent as to destroy the greatest part of the perennial plants of Virginia and Mississippi, that are cultivated in France, even before they have exhibited their fruit. The plants which flower during our winter, such as those of the Cape of Good Hope, ripen their fruit in spring in our floves.