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A fruit is the mature, ripened ovary of a flower following double fertilization in an angiosperm.Because gymnosperms do not have an ovary but reproduce through fertilization of unprotected ovules, they produce naked seeds that do not have a surrounding fruit, this meaning that juniper and yew "berries" are not fruits, but modified cones.
Location of ovules inside a Helleborus foetidus flower. In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the integument, forming its outer layer, the nucellus (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the female gametophyte (formed from a haploid megaspore) in its center.
In the flowering plants, the gynoecium develops in the central region of the flower as a carpel or in groups of fused carpels. [4] After fertilization, the gynoecium develops into a fruit that provides protection and nutrition for the developing seeds, and often aids in their dispersal. [5] The gynoecium has several specialized tissues. [6]
Fruit anatomy is the plant anatomy of the internal structure of fruit. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] In berries and drupes , the pericarp forms the edible tissue around the seeds. In other fruits such as citrus and stone fruits ( Prunus ) only some layers of the pericarp are eaten.
Now, the ovary of the flower is made up much like you find in an apple, with the ovules covered over by a thick hypanthium — which is the tasty part of a ripe apple that we eat.
As 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 some multi-seeded fruits, the extent to which a fleshy structure develops is proportional to the number of fertilized ovules. [ 14 ]
After fertilization, the ovary of the flower develops into fruit containing seeds. [2] Flowers have long been appreciated for their beauty and pleasant scents, and also hold cultural significance as religious, ritual, or symbolic objects, or sources of medicine and food.
Some plants may form polyploid nuclei. The large cell of the gametophyte will then develop into the endosperm, a nutrient-rich tissue which nourishes the developing embryo. The ovary, surrounding the ovules, develops into the fruit, which protects the seeds and may function to disperse them. [1]