Multiple fruit explained

Multi-fruits, also called collective fruits, are fruiting bodies formed from a cluster of flowers, the inflorescence. Each flower in the inflorescence produces a fruit, but these mature into a single mass.[1] After flowering, the mass is called an infructescence.[2] [3] Examples are the fig, pineapple, mulberry, osage orange, and jackfruit.

In contrast, an aggregate fruit such as a raspberry develops from multiple ovaries of a single flower. In languages other than English, the meanings of "multiple" and "aggregate" fruit are reversed, so that multiple fruits merge several pistils within a single flower.[4]

In some cases, the infructescences are similar in appearance to simple fruits. One example is pineapple (Ananas), which is formed from the fusion of the berries with receptacle tissues and bracts.[5] [6]

As shown in the photograph of the noni, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia) can be observed on a single branch. First an inflorescence of white flowers called a head is produced. After fertilization, each flower develops into a drupe, and as the drupes expand, they become connate (merge) into a multiple fleshy fruit called a syncarp. There are also many dry multiple fruits.

Other examples of multiple fruits:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Schlegel . Encyclopedic Dictionary of Plant Breeding and Related Subjects . 282. 9781560229506 . 2003-05-13 .
  2. Book: Hickey, M. . King, C. . 2001 . The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms . Cambridge University Press.
  3. Book: Beentje, H. . Williamson, J. . 2010 . The Kew Plant Glossary: an Illustrated Dictionary of Plant Terms . Kew Publishing . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  4. Spjut, R. . Thieret, J. . 1989 . Confusion between multiple and aggregate fruits . The Botanical Review . 55 . 1 . 53–72 . 10.1007/bf02868781. 24994626 .
  5. Web site: Multiple Fruits, Pineapple Multiple Fruit, Examples of Multiple Fruits, Types of Multiple Fruits . 2022-03-18 . www.fruitsinfo.com.
  6. Web site: Multiple Fruits . 2022-03-18 . science.jburroughs.org . 2022-01-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220108103359/https://science.jburroughs.org/resources/flower/fruit5.html . dead .