from επις, round, and καρπός, fruit, the seed-vessel, or that organ of a plant which contains the seeds 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 not furnished with a seed-vessel; and in such as are deprived of it, the receptacle or calyx performs its functions by enclosing the seeds as in a matrix, and accompanying them to perfect maturity.