three types of fruit formation - horticulturebc.info types.pdf · 1. simple fruits form from a...
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1. Simple fruits
Form from a single flower with one pistil
2. Aggregate fruits
Form from a single flower with many pistils
3. Multiple fruits
Form from many florets in an inflorescence
Fruitlets fuse together into one, bigger fleshy fruit
or they fall off the plant as a dry fruit cluster
Three types of fruit formation
Fruit may also contain accessory tissue (parts not derived from the ovary)
Simple fruit may arise from a simple pistil (one carpel) or compound pistil (two or more
carpels).
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
1 carpel
Drupe: fruit usually with a fleshy mesocarp and a single seed enclosed in a hard stony
endocarp or pit (e.g. peach, plum, beautyberry). Exception: holly has 4 to 6 seeds each with
their own hard endocarp (called pyrenes). Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
seed
endocarp mesocarp
True berry: fleshy fruit (mesocarp + endocarp) with thin skin (exocarp) and usually few to
many seeds (e.g. Vitaceae - grape).
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Tomato (a true berry): pericarp (exocarp, mesocarp, endocarp), seed, locule, placenta.
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Pepo: a berry with a tough skin called the rind that is derived from accessory tissue (the
floral tube) and the ovary’s exocarp (Cucurbitaceae, e.g. squash).
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Parthenocarpic fruit: mature to become fleshy without the ovules ripening into seeds.
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banana
long English cucumber
seedless grapes
watermelon
Hesperidium: a berry with leathery outer skin containing citrus oil; carpels evident in cross
section (Rutaceae e.g. lime).
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Pome: may be berry-like but has leathery or papery endocarp and fleshy accessory tissue
derived from the floral tube (inferior ovary).
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Accessory
tissue
calyx
(remains at the distil end)
Accessory
tissue
Pedicel
Locule
Seed
Pome: fruit with leathery or papery endocarps surrounded by fleshy
accessory tissue derived from the floral tube (e.g. some Rosaceae - pear, cotoneaster, etc.).
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Samara (key): indehiscent dry fruit with wing(s) for wind dispersal
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maple
ash
tree of heaven elm
American hop hornbeam
Nut: indehiscent dry fruit with a hard pericarp from a compound pistil but usually only one
seed develops. Exception: beech (top right) has 3-angled nuts from compound ovary
enclosed in prickly bracts that split open like a capsule. Nuts can also be very tiny, e.g. those
from alder catkins (Betulaceae), or from the persistent calyx of lavender (Lamiaceae).
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walnut is
drupe-like
hazelnut
chestnut
oak
beech
lavender
alder
Achene (&/or cypsela): pericarp and seed loosely attached
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sunflower
dandelion
clematis
Grain (caryopsis): fruit wall fused to the seed coat (e.g. oats, and all Poaceae species)
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Schizocarpic fruit: at maturity the compound pistil splits apart into separate carpels called
mericarps that fully enclose the seed. In Apiaceae there are two mericarps. (FYI: In
Geraniaceae there are 5 mericarps each with a single seed that is forcibly discharged!)
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fennel
geranium
Follicle: splitting along one edge only (single carpel spliting along the margin).
Usually, several form per flower to form an “aggregate of achenes”.
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milkweed peony
Legume: fruit splitting along both edges (Fabaceae, e.g. honey locust, wistera, bean)
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
Legume (pea) parts: pericarp, seed, locule (air space round seed), placenta
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Silicle: Fruit less than twice longer than wide (e.g. dollar plant)
Silique: Fruit more than twice longer than wide (Brassicaeae, e.g. stocks)
Note the central partition to which the seeds are attached (two compartments)
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Capsule: fruit with a compound pistil splitting along or between carpel lines splitting at a
number of edges lengthwise. Some form a cap that comes off or a row of pores that open
near the top (e.g. poppy)
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golden rain tree poppy
lily princess tree
1. Simple fruits
Form from a single flower with one pistil
2. Aggregate fruits
Form from a single flower with many pistils
3. Multiple fruits
Form from many florets in an inflorescence
Fruitlets fuse together into one, bigger fleshy fruit or they fall off the plant as
a dry fruit cluster
Three types of fruit formation
Fruit may also contain accessory tissue (parts not derived from the ovary)
Aggregate fruit: fruit divided from a single flower having several to many pistils
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
magnolia is an
aggregate of 1
seeded follicles
tulip tree
aggregate
of samaras
blackberry
aggregate
of drupes
strawberry of
achenes (on
accessory tissue)
Rose hip: similar to pome except it contains many achenes (an aggregate fruit type with
accessory tissue)
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
1. Simple fruits
Form from a single flower with one pistil
2. Aggregate fruits
Form from a single flower with many pistils
3. Multiple fruits
Form from many florets in an inflorescence
Fruitlets fuse together into one, bigger fleshy
fruit or they fall off the plant as a dry fruit cluster
Three types of fruit formation
Fruit may also contain accessory tissue (parts not derived from the ovary)
Multiple fruit: derived from several to many separate flowers in an inflorescence, the fruit
fuse to form a single fruit at maturity or the fruit untit drops from the plant before the seed
is dispersed (e.g.,, fig,, and) Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
pineapple
Chinese
dogwood
sweet gum
corn
cob
fig
plane tree
In rhododendron the florets form dry fruit that split lengthwise to release the seeds.
Unknown # 2
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Unknown # 3
In strawberry, the fruit is derived from a single flower with many pistils (each ovary becomes an achene stuck to the outside).
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
The florets in golden chain tree (Fabaceae) form dry fruit that split lengthwise along two sides to release the seeds.
Unknown # 4
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
In hawthorn, remnants of the calyx indicates it has accessory tissue (there are several unprotected seeds inside).
Unknown # 5
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
In beech, each floret produces a few hard indehiscent fruit (one per pistil), that are protected by accessory tissue (whorl of bracts).
Unknown # 6
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
In ninebark, each floret forms 4 or 5 dry fruit: each split lengthwise on one side to release the seed.
Unknown # 7
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
Cornelian dogwood forms fleshy fruit with the seed in a hard pit.
Unknown # 8
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
The florets from this head inflorescence from strawflower form indehiscent fruit with hairs for wind dispersal.
Unknown # 9
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
The florets in the mulberry catkin turn into berries and fuse multiple fruit.
Unknown # 10
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
Answer Key
1. Berry
2. Capsule
3. Aggregate fruit (achenes)
4. Legume
5. Pome
6. Nut
7. Follicle
8. Drupe
9. Achene (or cypsela)
10. Multiple fruit
Fruit Types © KPU.ca/Hort
Use the KPU Plant Database to search for more fruit type examples: Morphological Search, click Expand > Fruit Type