Types of Fruit

1. Single fruit

The fruit that develops from only one pistil in a flower is called a simple fruit, which is further divided into fleshy fruit and dry fruit.

1. Fleshy fruit: Fleshy fruits are divided into berries, drupes, citrus fruits, pears and gourds. Among them, berries are characterized by a thin exocarp, fleshy mesocarp and endocarp, and the fruit is full of juice, such as honeysuckle and grapes; drupes are characterized by a thin exocarp, fleshy mesocarp and hard endocarp, such as peach and plum; citrus fruits are characterized by a leathery exocarp, loose mesocarp and a membranous endocarp divided into several chambers, which is a unique structure of Rutaceae plants.

2. Dried fruits: Dried fruits refer to fruits that are ripe and have dry peels. Dried fruits are divided into dehiscent fruits and indehiscent fruits. Dehiscent fruits include pods, follicles, siliques, and capsules, while indehiscent fruits include schizocarps, nuts, samaras, caryopsis, achenes, etc.

2. Aggregate Fruit

The fruit that develops from the several free carpels and pistils in the flower that are clustered together on the receptacle is called an aggregate fruit, which means one flower has multiple fruits. Aggregate fruits are divided into aggregate follicles, aggregate achenes, aggregate nuts and aggregate drupes, among which the plants representing these four are star anise, strawberry, lotus and raspberry.

3. Cluster Fruit

The fruit developed from the entire inflorescence is also called multiple fruit, which has multiple flowers and fruits. Representative plants include figs, mulberries, and pineapples.