Fruits Flashcards
What are referred to as “true fruits”?
Fruit developed solely from the ovary and its contents (ex. peach).
Fruits developed from the ovary plus additional parts of the flower such as receptacle, petals, and sepals (example pineapple, apple)
Accessory fruit
Wall of a ripened ovary, fruit wall
Pericarp
Outermost part of a fruit (thin skin)
Exocarp
Innermost portion of the fruit wall (hard and stony)
Endocarp
Middle portion of the fruit between the skin and the stone (either fleshy or fibrous)
Mesocarp
Fertilized ripened ovule of a flowering plant containing an embryo and generally capable of germination
Seed
Basic unit of an ovary formed from one highly modified leaf
Carpel
Type of simple dry fruit produced by many plants; nearly fills the pericarp (but does not adhere). Ex. sunflower seed
Achene
Dry fruits which open at maturity to discharge seeds
Dehiscent
Dry fruits which do not open at maturity to discharge seeds (many are one seeded fruits)
Indehiscent
Fruits formed from one pistil (May be either true or accessory fruits)
Simple fruits
Fruits in which the coat becomes dry at maturity
dry fruits
A dry dehiscent fruit developed from one carpel, which at maturity splits along both the dorsal and ventral sutures (ex. peas, peanuts, beans)
Legume
A dry dehiscent fruit developed from one carpel, at maturity splits along ONE suture (ex, larkspur, columbine)
Follicle
Dry dehiscent fruit developed from several carpels
Capsule
Dry dehiscent fruit developed from several carpels, which splits along the outer median line (ex. lilies)
Loculicidal capsule
Dry dehiscent fruit developed from several carpels, which splits along the septa and opens at the top (ex. yucca, agave)
Septicidal capsule
A special long slender capsule of 2 carpels (ex. mustards)
Silique
Special short broad capsule of 2 carpels (ex. mustards)
Silicle
Capsule which has circumscissle dehiscence (ex. plantain, amaranths, purslane)
Pyxis
Capsule which opens with round holes (ex. poppies)
Poricidal capsule
One-seeded, dry, indehiscent fruit. Seed is attached to fruit wall at single point (ex. buttercups, dandelion, sunflower)
Achene
One-seeded, dry, indehiscent similar to achene with wall greatly thickened and hardened (ex. hazel, macadamia, chestnut, oak)
Nut
One or two seeded, dry, indehiscent fruit in which part of the fruit wall grows into a wing (ex. elm, maple, ash)
Samara
One-seeded dry indehiscent fruit in which fruit wall and seed coat are fused (ex. wheat, corn, grasses, all cereals)
Grain
Fruit formed from several carpels, each carpel of this pistil enclosing a single ovule, at purity the carpels separate as separate indehiscent fruit (ex. mallow, wild carrot, dill)
Schizocarp
Fruits in which the wall becomes soft and fleshy as it matures
Fleshy fruits
One-seed simple fruit developed from a superior ovary in which the innermost portion of the wall (endocarp) becomes hard and stony, and outermost (exocarp) becomes relatively thin skin, and middle (mesocarp) becomes either fleshy or fibrous (ex. cherry, coconut, peach, cherry, plum, olive, avocado)
Drupe
Simple fruit in which the ovary wall (or at least inner portion) becomes enlarged and usually juicy (ex. grape, banana, coffee, eggplant, pomegranate)
Berry
Special type of berry in which a leathery rind forms; interior of fruit is divided by septa indicating the number of carpels (all citrus)
Hesperidium
Special type fo berry in which a relatively hard rind is formed; interior of fruit NOT divided by septa (ex. gourds, cucumber, watermelon, pumpkin, squash, zucchini)
Pepo
Accessory fleshy fruit formed by a group of carpels more or less firmly united with each other and surrounded by and united to the floral tube or receptacle (ex. apple, pear, mountain ash)
Pome
Fruit formed by the development of a number of pistils from the same flower (the individual units may be berries or other specific types) (ex. strawberry, rose hip, raspberry)
Aggregate fruit
Fruit formed by the development of a number of postils often with accessory parts, the pistils being from a number of flowers (ex. mulberry, pineapple, fig)
Multiple fruit
By which two ways may seedless fruit develop?
A. Without any fertilization. Some species such as tomato, pineapple, cucumber, produce seedless fruit if not pollinated but do produce seeded fruit if pollination occurs
B. Pollination triggers fruit development, but the ovules or embryos abort without producing mature seeds. Ex. seedless banana and watermelon fruits are produced on triploid plants, whose three sets of chromosomes prevent meiosis and thus the fruit may not produce fertile gametes. Can arise by spontaneous mutation or by hybridization between diploid and tetraploid individuals of the same or different species.
