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Ovary (botany)

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**1. Fruits and Development:**
– A fruit is the mature, ripened ovary of a flower in angiosperms.
– Gymnosperms lack an ovary and produce naked seeds.
Juniper and yew berries are not true fruits but modified cones.
– Simple fruits arise from one ovary of a single flower.
– Aggregate fruits develop from many ovaries of one flower.
– Multiple fruits originate from multiple ovaries of individual flowers.
– Ovary transforms into fruit post-fertilization.
Double fertilization yields endosperm surrounding the zygote.

**2. Dispersal and Evolutionary Significance:**
– Fruits aid in seed dispersal and protection in angiosperms.
Fruit shape variations aid in seed dispersal.
– Large fleshy fruits are often dispersed through endozoochory.
– Seeds are dispersed by endozoochory, gravity, wind, or other means.
– Fruits play a vital role in seed dispersal and protection.
– Oranges are mature ovaries of single flowers.

**3. Complications and Types of Fruits:**
– Botanical and culinary fruits may differ.
– Fruits categorized as simple, aggregate, or multiple.
– Aggregate fruits like raspberries develop from one flower’s ovaries.
– Multiple fruits like pineapples form from separate flowers’ ovaries.
– Accessory fruits like apples include additional flower parts.

**4. Ovary Structure:**
– Locules are chambers within ovaries and fruits.
– Ovules attach to placentae inside the ovary.
– Dehiscent ovaries split into valves for seed release.
– Ovary structure varies based on the number of carpels.
– Placentae nourish and guide pollen tubes in the ovary.
– Half-inferior ovary characteristics.
– Inferior ovary characteristics.

**5. Additional Information and References:**
– Importance of understanding ovary types in botanical research and agriculture.
– Studies on the anatomy and development of fruits.
– Relevance of ovary position in plant taxonomy and evolution.
– Various studies on double fertilization, seed evolution, and fruiting strategies.
– Research on fruit set, herbivory, and inflorescence size.
– Studies on seed dispersal and allergens in tree nuts.
– Publications on peanut and tree nut hypersensitivity.
Botany primers and resources on phenology and breeding plantation tree crops.

Ovary (botany) (Wikipedia)

In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule(s) and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals. The pistil may be made up of one carpel or of several fused carpels (e.g. dicarpel or tricarpel), and therefore the ovary can contain part of one carpel or parts of several fused carpels. Above the ovary is the style and the stigma, which is where the pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary, and, for each individual pollen grain, to fertilize one individual ovule. Some wind pollinated flowers have much reduced and modified ovaries.

Longitudinal section of female flower of a squash showing pistil (=ovary+style+stigma), ovules, and petals. The petals and sepals are above the ovary; such a flower is said to have an inferior ovary, or the flower is said to be epigynous.
Cross section of a tulip ovary
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