DRY FRUIT - DEHISCENT (open at maturity)

4. Follicle: one ovary splitting (opening) along one suture. Examples: oleander; magnolia is an
    aggregate of follicles.

5. Legume: one ovary splitting along two sutures. This fruit defines the pea family. Examples:
    pea, western redbud.  

6. Capsule: multiple ovaries, splitting along two or more sutures. Example: eucalyptus.

                            DRY FRUIT - INDEHISCENT (closed at maturity)

7. Achene: Single ovary. Examples: sunflower; the strawberry is an aggregate of achenes on
    a swollen receptacle.

8. Multiple ovaries, but one seeded because only one ovary develops. Examples: walnut,
    acorn (a nut with a cap), and samara (a nut with a wing).

Cercis occidentalis, western redbud legumes.

The purpose of the flower is to promote pollination and ultimately produce fruit with seeds. The purpose of fruit is to disseminate the seeds. The fruit then, can take on many shapes depending on the dispersing agent - wings or fuzzy hairs if wind dispersed, or attractive edible fruit for animals to eat and spread the seeds in their feces.

The fruit is also a valuable tool for identifying and classifying plants. When looking at fruit, we can look at how many ovaries are present. The ovary is a chamber; if we compare an apricot to an apple:

STUDENT RESEARCH QUESTION:
15. Pyracantha is in the apple subfamily of the rose family. Would it be susceptible to
     fireblight disease?

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ON TO NEXT TOPIC: Plant families

It is obvious from the photos (and to anyone who has eaten an apricot and an apple), that there is only one chamber in the apricot (one ovary), and five in an apple (five ovaries = the apple "core"). The apricot fruit is a "drupe", a fleshy fruit with one ovary. The apple fruit is a "pome", a fleshy fruit with multiple ovaries .

Here is a situation that also has horticultural significance. Both the apricot and the apple are in the rose family, but they are assigned to different subfamilies based on their fruit. The apricot is in the peach subfamily which includes peaches, plums and cherries, all bearing drupes. They are also known as the stone fruits. The apple is in the apple subfamily which includes pear, quince and hawthorn, all pome bearing.

Fireblight is a bacterial disease which causes severe dieback of flowers and stems, and can even kill a tree; but it only infects the apple subfamily of the rose family. If you have an apricot with dead leaves and shoots on it, you know it isn't fireblight because the apricot is not in the apple subfamily. Knowing this can be a valuable tool if you are trying to diagnose a disease problem with your apricot tree.

Besides the number of ovaries, we can also separate fruit based on:

1. Texture - fleshy vs. non-fleshy fruit.

2. Weather the fruit opens at maturity. Fruit that opens at maturity is called dehiscent. Fruit
    that doesn't open at maturity is called indehiscent.

3. The number of sutures. Dehiscent fruit opens along lines called "sutures", we can use the
    number of sutures to distinguish among the different dehiscent fruits.

Using these characteristics, let's define some common fruit types:

                                                  FLESHY FRUIT

1. Drupe: fleshy fruit with a single ovary (chamber), seed surrounded by fleshy tissue.
    Examples:apricot, coconut, avocado, and the blackberry is aggregate of very small
    drupes.

2. Pome: fleshy fruit with multiple ovaries surrounded by fleshy tissue. Examples: apple,
   quince.

3. Berry: fleshy tissue, usually multiple ovaries, seeds embeded in fleshy tissue.
    Examples: tomato, kiwi.