Chapter 8 – Fruits and Seeds

Vocabulary flashcards covering major terms related to fruits, seed types, dispersal mechanisms, seed structure, and germination from Chapter 8.

Fruit

A matured ovary (often with accessory parts) that contains seeds; produced only by flowering plants.

Pericarp

Collective term for the three fruit wall layers: exocarp, mesocarp, and endocarp.

Exocarp

The outer skin of a fruit.

Mesocarp

The middle, often fleshy, layer of a fruit wall located between exocarp and endocarp.

Endocarp

The innermost fruit layer that directly surrounds the seed(s).

Simple Fruit

Fruit derived from a single pistil; may be fleshy or dry.

Drupe

Simple fleshy fruit with one seed enclosed in a hard, stony endocarp (pit); e.g., peach, olive.

Berry

Simple fleshy fruit from a compound ovary, usually many-seeded with a fleshy pericarp.

True Berry

Berry with thin skin and soft pericarp, e.g., tomato, grape, banana.

Pepo

Berry with a thick, hard rind; e.g., pumpkin, cucumber.

Hesperidium

Berry with a leathery, oil-rich rind; e.g., citrus fruits.

Pome

Simple fleshy fruit whose bulk is enlarged floral tube/receptacle; papery endocarp forms the core (apple, pear).

Dry Fruit

Fruit whose mesocarp becomes dry at maturity.

Dehiscent Fruit

Dry fruit that splits open at maturity to release seeds.

Indehiscent Fruit

Dry fruit that does not split open at maturity.

Follicle

Dehiscent fruit splitting along one side only; e.g., milkweed.

Legume

Dehiscent fruit splitting along two sides; characteristic of the pea family.

Silique

Dehiscent fruit more than three times longer than wide that splits on two sides, exposing a central seed partition; e.g., radish.

Silicle

Short, broad version of a silique (less than three times longer than wide); common in the mustard family.

Capsule

Dehiscent fruit from two or more carpels that splits in various ways; e.g., poppy, snapdragon.

Achene

Small indehiscent fruit with a single seed attached at the base; e.g., sunflower "seed."

Nut

Larger, hard-shelled achene often with bracts at the base; e.g., acorn, hazelnut.

Grain (Caryopsis)

Indehiscent fruit in which the pericarp is tightly fused to the seed coat; characteristic of grasses like corn and wheat.

Samara

Indehiscent fruit with wing-like pericarp extensions for wind dispersal; e.g., maple.

Schizocarp

Indehiscent twin fruit that splits into single-seeded mericarps; e.g., dill, carrot.

Aggregate Fruit

Fruit formed from one flower with many pistils; the tiny drupes/achenes mature together on one receptacle (raspberry, strawberry).

Multiple Fruit

Fruit formed from the ovaries of several flowers in an inflorescence; e.g., pineapple, fig.

Wind Dispersal

Seed/fruit dispersal mode using lightweight seeds, wings, samaras, plumes, or hairs.

Animal Dispersal

Seed/fruit dispersal via ingestion and excretion, adhesion to fur/feathers, or food bodies (e.g., elaiosomes for ants).

Water Dispersal

Dispersal using floating fruits that contain air spaces, such as coconut.

Elaiosome

Oil-rich appendage on some seeds (e.g., bleeding heart) that attracts ants for dispersal.

Cotyledon

Seed leaf; food-storage organ of the embryo.

Embryo

The young plant within a seed, consisting of cotyledons, plumule, hypocotyl, and radicle.

Plumule

The embryonic shoot; includes the epicotyl.

Epicotyl

Portion of embryo stem above the cotyledon attachment.

Hypocotyl

Portion of embryo stem below the cotyledon attachment.

Radicle

Embryonic root tip that develops into the primary root.

Germination

Resumption of seed growth when conditions (water, oxygen, temperature, light) become favorable.

Dormancy

Period during which viable seeds do not germinate; may be broken naturally or via scarification.

Scarification

Artificial method (abrasion, chemical, etc.) used to break hard seed coats and end dormancy.

After-ripening

Post-maturation embryo development required before some seeds can germinate.

Vivipary

Condition where seeds germinate while still attached to the parent plant, lacking dormancy (e.g., red mangrove).