Terminology:
– Alternative terms for accessory fruit include false fruit, spurious fruit, pseudofruit, or pseudocarp.
– These terms have been criticized as inapt by some botanists.
– Fruits with fleshy seeds like pomegranate or mamoncillo are not considered accessory fruits.
Examples:
– Apples and pears: The consumed part is the hypanthium, not the ovary.
– Roses: The edible part of rosehips is the hypanthium, similar to apples.
– Strawberries: The edible part forms from the receptacle, while the pips are the true fruit.
– Cashew apple: The hypocarpium ripens into a yellow or red structure.
– Pineapple: Multiple unpollinated flowers combine to form the pineapple.
Research:
– Current studies suggest a single class of genes regulates accessory fruit formation.
– Hormone signaling pathways involving gibberellic acid and auxin affect gene expression in accessory fruit development.
– Metabolic modifications in developing accessory fruit tissues are due to compound distributions.
See also:
– Aggregate fruit
– Compound fruit
– Multiple fruit
References:
– Esau, K. 1977. Anatomy of seed plants.
– Glossary Details – The William & Lynda Steere Herbarium.
– Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary entries.
– Holland, D.; Hatib, K.; Bar-Yaakov, I. (2009), Pomegranate: Botany, Horticulture, Breeding.
– Michaels, Tom; Clark, Matt; Hoover, Emily; Irish, Laura; Smith, Alan; Tepe, Emily (2022-06-20).
An accessory fruit is a fruit that contains tissue derived from plant parts other than the ovary. In other words, the flesh of the fruit develops not from the floral ovary, but from some adjacent tissue exterior to the carpel (for example, from receptacles or sepal). As a general rule, the accessory fruit is a combination of several floral organs, including the ovary. In contrast, true fruit forms exclusively from the ovary of the flower.
Accessory fruits are usually indehiscent, meaning that they do not split open to release seeds when they have reached maturity.