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Types of fruits. Plant morphology. What is a fruit?. In flowering plants, fruit is a matured, ripened ovary that contains the seeds. Types of fruits. Three types: Simple Aggregate Multiple. Simple fruits. develop from a single pistil
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Types of fruits Plant morphology
What is a fruit? In flowering plants, fruit is a matured, ripened ovary that contains the seeds
Types of fruits Three types: • Simple • Aggregate • Multiple
Simple fruits • develop from a single pistil • Simple fruits can be either fleshy or dry when mature • Fleshy a.Berry: endocarp, mesocarp and exocarp are soft Examples: Grapes, tomato.
b. Drupe (stone fruit) : • outer part of fruit wall is soft and fleshy, • endocarp is hard. Examples : apricot, nectarine, mango, olive,Plum, cherry, peach
Pome • endocarp is papery or leathery • most of the fleshy part of pomes develops from the enlarged base of the perianth (corolla and calyx) that has fused with the ovary wall Example:Apple and pear
Pepo • also a fleshy fruit but exocarp is a tough • has hard rind when mature Examples: pumpkin, melons, cucumbers
2. Dry (when finished ripening) : Simple dry fruits are dry (not fleshy) at maturity. a. Indehiscent (do not open when they dry) • Achene: sunflower family, sedges • Caryopsis: seed coat is fused to the ovary wall Example: cereal grains. iii. Nut : single-ovary wall and seed coat remain separate, ovary wall is very hard E.g.: walnuts, chestnuts, acorns
b. Dehiscent (split open along one or more sutures). Simple dry fruits are dry (not fleshy) and open at maturity. Two Kinds: (1).Capsule – fruit is dry at maturity and splits open along several seams E.g.: Cotton, poppy (2). Legumes – Legumes are dry at maturity and split open along one seams E.g.: peas, beans and etc.
Aggregated fruits • formed from a flower with numerous simple Pistils, all ripening simultaneously E.g.: Blackberries, raspberries and strawberries
Multiple fruits • formed from a cluster of flowers. • Multiple fruit develops from ovaries of several flowers borne/fused together on the same stalk. E.g.: Pineapple, mulberry, fig.
Why dispersal? • fall directly underneath the mother plant and the seedlings grow up close together • they soon exhaust the soil of its essential food constituents. • Besides, the availability space, light and air under such a condition fall far short of the demand. • A struggle for existence • they may easily fall prey to attacks by herbivorous animals.
Seeds and fruits dispersed by winds Wings: • develop one or more appendages in the form of thin, flat, membranous wings, • the seeds and fruits themselves are light and dry. • help them float in the air and facilitate their dispersion by wind. Parachute mechanism: • calyx is modified into hair like structures known as pappus. • is persistent in the fruit and opens out in an umbrella-like fashion. • gets detached from the parent plant, the pappus acts like a parachute • helps it float in the air.
Censer Mechanism • the seeds of certain plants can be scattered by the wind only after the dehiscence of the fruit Hairs • seeds are provided with hairs with either 1 or 2 tufts or all over the body. • hairs aids the distribution of seeds by the wind. • Persistent Styles. • the style are persistent and very feathery. • The fruits are, thus, easily carried away by wind. Light Seeds and Fruits • Some seeds and fruits are so light and minute in size that they may easily be carried away by the gentlest breeze.
Seeds and fruits Dispersed by water • usually develop floating devices in the form of spongy or fibrous outer coats. • The fibrous fruit of coconut is capable of floating long distance in the sea without suffering any injury. • coconut is commonly seen on sea coasts and marine island.
Seeds Dispersed by Explosive Fruits • Many fruit burst with a sudden jerk, with the result that the seeds are scattered a few yards away from the parent plant.
Seeds and Fruits Dispersed by Animals Hooked fruits: • many fruits are provided with hooks, barbs, spines, bristles, stiff hairs, etc, on their bodies • by means of which they adhere to the bodies of woolly animals as well as to the clothing of mankind • unwittingly carried by them to distant places. Sticky fruits: • the fruits of Boerhaviaand Plumbago have sticky glands on their body. • The seeds of mistletoe are very sticky.
Fleshy fruits: • many such fruits, coloured conspicuously, are carried from one place to another for the sake of their beauty. Edible fruits: • human beings and birds are active and useful agents in distributing such fruits. • birds feed upon the pulpy portion of fruits like guava, grape, fig, etc., and pass out the undigested seeds with the faeces. • Bats and squirrels are also useful in dispersing seeds and fruits.