Multiple fruit
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Multiple fruits are fruits that are formed from a cluster of flowers (called an inflorescence) growing on a catkin. Each flower on the catkin produces a fruit (drupelet), but these mature into a single mass.[1] Examples are the pineapple, edible fig, mulberry, osage-orange, and breadfruit.
In the photograph on the left, 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 syncarpet.[2]
There are also many dry multiple fruits, e.g.
- Tuliptree, multiple of samaras.
- Sweet gum, multiple of capsules.
- Sycamore and teasel, multiple of achenes.
- Magnolia, multiple of follicles.
- Common Fig
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Schlegel. Encyclopedic Dictionary, p. 282.
- ^ Parker, Philip M. (December 1, 2004). Morinda Citrifolia - A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References. ICON Group. ISBN 0-497-00758-4.
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