Achene

Strawberry achenes seen up close.

An achene (Greek ἀ, a, privative + χαίνειν, chainein, to gape;^[1] also sometimes referred to as akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp) is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not open at maturity). Achenes contain a single seed that nearly fills the pericarp, but does not adhere to it. In many species, what is referred to as the "seed" is actually an achene, a fruit containing the seed. The seed-like appearance arises from the fact that the wall of the seed-vessel hardens and encloses the solitary seed so closely as to seem like an outer coat.^[1]

Examples

cypsela of Cynara

The fruits of buttercup, buckwheat, and cannabis are typical achenes.

The achenes of the strawberry are sometimes mistaken for seeds. The strawberry is an aggregate fruit with an aggregate of achenes, and what is eaten is accessory tissue.

A rose also produces achenes. Each fruit, called a rose hip, holds a few achenes.

Variations

A winged achene, such as in maple, is called a samara.

Some achenes have accessory hair-like structures that cause them to tumble in the wind in a manner similar to a tumbleweed. This type sometimes is called a tumble fruit or diaspore. An example is Anemone virginiana.

A caryopsis or grain is a type of fruit that closely resembles an achene, but differs in that the pericarp is fused to the thin seed coat in the grain.

An utricle is like an achene, but it has a compound ovary, sometimes with several seeds. In addition, the ovary of the fruit becomes bladder-like or corky.

Fruits of sedges are sometimes considered achenes although their one-locule ovary is actually a compound ovary (plants).

The fruit of the family Asteraceae is also so similar to an achene that it is often considered to be one, although it derives from a compound inferior ovary (with one locule). A special term for the Asteraceae fruit is cypsela (plural cypselae or cypselas). For example, the white-gray husks of a sunflower "seed" are the walls of the cypsela fruit. Many cypselas (e.g. dandelion) have calyx tissue attached that functions in biological dispersal of the seed.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Achenes.

• Botanical Glossary

Gallery

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  Cypselae on a dandelion "clock" (the matured capitulum) can disperse in the wind due to the hair-like calyx tissue above each ovary.

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  A microscopic view of a dandelion "clock" showing the receptacle and the cypselas.

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  Samaras of Acer buergerianum are achenes with large wing-like structures.

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  The diaspore of Pulsatilla (family Ranunculaceae) disperses in the wind, either as single achenes or as the entire aggregate of achenes. The achenes have long hairy appendages that developed from the style of the flower.