Botany - fruits & seeds

• carpel is the female reproductive structure that is attached to the top whorl of the flower - the gynoecium node
• fruit - mature, ripened ovary of a flower
• fruit is the organ that contains the seeds
• pericarp is made up of 3 distinct layers

  • exocarp
  • mesocarp
  • endocarp
• pericarp - the mature ovary wall of the fruit
• mesocarp - the middle layer
• exocarp - the outermost layer
• endocarp - the innermost layer
• kinds of fruits

  • fleshy fruit
  • dry fruit
• types of fleshy fruits

  • simple fleshy fruit
  • aggregate fruits
  • multiple fruits
• simple fleshy fruits

  • berry
  • pepo
  • pome
  • hesperidium
  • drupe
• simple fleshy fruit - a fruit which develops from a flower w/ a single pistil and has one/more carpels
• berry - a fruit formed from a compound ovary w/ few to many seeds. the entire pericarp is fleshy
• pepo - a type of fleshy fruit, w/ a thick hard rind
• pome - a fruit formed from a compound ovary in which the receptacle becomes thick and fleshy. the endocarp around the seeds is papery and leathery
• fleshy fruits - a fruit whose mesocarp is fleshy upon maturity
• hesperidium - a berry-like fruit covered w/ a thick leathery skin containing oil and locules filled w fleshy outgrowths containing juice
• drupe - a simple fleshy fruit w a single seed enclosed by a hard, stony endocarp. it usually develops from a superior ovary containing a single ovule
• aggregrate fruits - fruits derived from a single flower w several to many pistils. the individual pistil develops into small fruitless, but they mature as a single fruit in a single receptacle
• multiple fruits - these fruits are derived from several to many individual flowers in a single inflorescence. each flower has its own receptacle, but as the flower matures separately into fruitless, they develop together into a sinlge, large fruit
• 2 types of dry fruit

  • dry, dehiscent fruits
  • dry, indehiscent fruits
• dry, dehiscent fruits - fruits in this group are distinguished from one another by the manner in which they split
• dry dehiscent fruits

  • capsule
  • legume
  • slique
  • follicle
• capsule - a more-than-one carpelled fruit with 2/more placentae. here are several types of this. they split in a variety of ways
• legume - one-carpelled fruit splitting along 2 sides. this is also called a pod
• silique - a long, 2-locular fruit splitting w/ each half separating from the other leaving a thin septum
• follicle - one-carpel fruit splitting along one side
• dry, indehiscent fruit

  • achene
  • caryopsis
  • samara
  • schizocarp
  • nut
• dry fruits - fruits whose mesocarp is definitely dry at maturity
• achene - one-seeded fruit with the seed connected to the pericarp only at one endpoint
• caryopsis - a one-seeded fruit w/ the seed united to the pericarp by all sides
• samara - the pericarp around the seed extends out in the form of a wing/membrane, which helps in the dispersal
• schizocarp - a fruit made up of two/more one-seede carpels that separate from each other when dry
• nut - one-seeded fruit similar to achenes but are generally larger and whose pericarp is much harder and thicker
• dry, indehiscent fruits - in this type of dry fruit, the single seed is fused/attached in varying degrees to the pedicarp. fruit do not split open upon maturity
• seeds - mature fertilized plant ovule consisting of an embryo and its food source and having a protective coat/testa
• parts of seeds

  • embryo
  • seed coat/testa
  • endosperm
• embryo - the baby plant inside the seed
• seed coat/testa - the outermost protective covering that consists of the test and tegmen.
• the scar on the seed coat, the hilium, represents the point of attachment to the placenta on the fruit wall