In some multiseeded fruits, the extent to which a fleshy structure develops is proportional to the number of fertilized ovules. It is possible to see a progression of flowering, fruit development, and fruit ripening.Īs the ovules develop into seeds, the ovary begins to ripen and the ovary wall, the pericarp, may become fleshy (as in berries or drupes), or it may form a hard outer covering (as in nuts). In the noni, flowers are produced in time-sequence along the stem. Later the zygote will give rise to the embryo of the seed, and the endosperm mother cell will give rise to endosperm, a nutritive tissue used by the embryo. Within the megagametophyte one sperm unites with the egg, forming a zygote, while the second sperm enters the central cell forming the endosperm mother cell, which completes the double fertilization process. Two sperm are transferred from the pollen to a megagametophyte. After pollination, a pollen tube grows from the (deposited) pollen through the stigma down the style into the ovary to the ovule. Ovules are fertilized in a process that starts with pollination, which is the movement of pollen from the stamens to the stigma-style-ovary system within the flower-head, (see graphic). (A female gametophyte is called a megagametophyte, and also called the embryo sac.) After double fertilization, the ovules will become seeds. Here begins a complex sequence called double fertilization: a female gametophyte produces an egg cell for the purpose of fertilization. Inside the ovary(ies) are one or more ovules. The gynoecium, which contains the stigma-style-ovary system, is centered in the flower-head, and it forms all or part of the fruit -(see graphic: 'the parts of a flower'). The development sequence of a typical drupe, the nectarine ( Prunus persica) over a 7.5 month period, from bud formation in early winter to fruit ripening in midsummer (see image page for further information)Ī fruit results from the fertilizing and maturing of one or more flowers. However, the fruit wall is thin and fused to the seed coat, so almost all the edible grain-fruit is actually a seed. Edible gymnosperm seeds are often given fruit names, e.g., ginkgo nuts and pine nuts.īotanically, a cereal grain, such as corn, rice, or wheat is a kind of fruit (termed a caryopsis). In contrast, rhubarb is often called a fruit when used in making pies, but the edible produce of rhubarb is actually the leaf stalk or petiole of the plant. The spices chili pepper and allspice are fruits, botanically speaking. Įxamples of botanically classified fruit that typically are called vegetables include: cucumber, pumpkin, and squash ( all are cucurbits) beans, peanuts, and peas ( all legumes) corn, eggplant, bell pepper (or sweet pepper), and tomato, (see image). Vegetables, so called, typically are savory or non-sweet produce ( zucchini, lettuce, broccoli, and tomato) but some may be sweet-tasting (sweet potato). In culinary language, a fruit, so-called, is the sweet- or not sweet- (even sour-) tasting produce of a specific plant (e.g., a peach, pear or lemon) nuts are hard, oily, non-sweet plant produce in shells ( hazelnut, acorn). A nut is a type of fruit (and not a seed), and a seed is a ripened ovule. For example, in botany, a fruit is a ripened ovary or carpel that contains seeds e.g., an apple, pomegranate, tomato or a pumpkin. Many common language terms used for fruit and seeds differ from botanical classifications. Īn arrangement of fruits commonly thought of as culinary vegetables, including corn (maize), tomatoes, and various squash In botanical usage, the term "fruit" also includes many structures that are not commonly called "fruits", such as nuts, bean pods, corn kernels, tomatoes, and wheat grains. In common language usage, "fruit" normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures (or produce) of plants that typically are sweet or sour and edible in the raw state, such as apples, bananas, grapes, lemons, oranges, and strawberries. Consequently, fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world's agricultural output, and some (such as the apple and the pomegranate) have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings. Edible fruits in particular have long propagated using the movements of humans and animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the means for seed dispersal for the one group and nutrition for the other in fact, humans and many animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of food. In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.įruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Pomegranates have diverse cultural-religious significance