=Syncarpy.=--In the preceding section it has been shown that the carpels, like other parts of the flower, are subject to be united together. This union may either take place between the carpels of a single flower or between the pistils of different flowers. In the latter case the other floral whorls are generally more or less altered. Where, however, the ovary is, as it is called, inferior, it may happen that the pistils of different flowers may coalesce more or less without much alteration in the other parts of the flower, as happens normally in many _Caprifoliaceæ_, _Rubiaceæ_, &c. &c. In some of these cases it must be remembered that the real structure of the apparent fruit is not made out beyond dispute, the main points of controversy being as to what, if any, share the dilated fruit-stalk or axis takes in the formation of such organs. Again, it will be borne in mind that in some cases the so-called fruit is made up of a number of flowers all fused together, as in the Mulberry or the Pineapple, in which plants what is, in ordinary language, called the fruit really consists of the whole mass of flowers constituting the inflorescence fused together. Union of the fruits may also in some cases take place between the carpels after the fall of the other floral whorls, particularly when the outer layers of the pericarp assume a succulent condition, so that under the general head of syncarpy really different conditions are almost necessarily grouped together, and, in seeking to investigate the causes of the phenomenon, the particular circumstances of each individual case must be taken into account. Syncarpy takes place in various degrees; sometimes only the stalks are joined; at other times the whole extent of the fruit, as in cherries, &c. This peculiarity did not escape the observant mind of Shakespeare--
"A double cherry seeming parted. But yet a union in partition, Two lovely berries moulded on one stem." 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' act iii, sc. 2.
A similar union has been observed in peaches, gooseberries, gourds, melons, and a great many other fruits. In the Barbarossa grape I have frequently seen a fusion of two, three, four or more berries quite at the end of the bunch, so that the clusters were terminated by a compound grape. Seringe has remarked sometimes two, sometimes three, fruits of _Ranunculus tripartitus_ soldered together. He has also seen three melons similarly joined.[47] Turpin mentions having seen a complete union between the three smooth and leathery pericarps which are naturally separate and enclosed within the spiny cupule of the chestnut.[48] Poiteau and Turpin have figured and described in their treatise on fruit trees, under the name of Néfle de Correa, four or five medlars, joined together and surmounted by all the persistent leaflets of the calyces.[49]