anthocarp

anthocarp

English

The flower of Neea laxa, in the family Nyctaginaceae, instead of being shed, will form part of the anthocarp that includes the true fruit

The fruit of this Neea laxa is contained in its anthocarp, with the perianth as its outer layer. The remnants of the pistil and perianth segments are visible at the tip of the anthocarp.

Longitudinal section through a fig syconium, the hollow stem lined with the more-or-less fused individual florets, each containing a nut-like true fruit, in this case, an achene.

Etymology

antho- +‎ -carp

Noun

anthocarp (plural anthocarps)

1. (botany) Any of various forms of fruits in which part of the perianth tissue remains attached to the fruit, as part of the mechanism of dispersal.
   1. (botany) Lower part of a perianth containing the fruit, the upper part having dropped away, well seen in plants of the family Nyctaginaceae.[1]
   2. (botany) In the Nyctaginaceae, individual apetalous flowers have a tubular, petaloid calyx that resembles a sympetalous corolla. The lower portion of the calyx tightly enwraps the one-seeded achene and is persistent around the fruit as an anthocarp. The calyx base plus the enclosed seed-bearing achene is the unit of dispersal.[2]
   3. (botany) A collective, composite or aggregated fruit formed from an entire inflorescence, as in the sorosis of a pineapple or the syconus of a fig.[3]
   4. (botany) A fruit resulting from many flowers, such as the pineapple; a fruit of which the perianth or the torus forms part.[4]
   5. (botany) A composite false fruit, consisting of the actual fruit and the perianth.[5]
   6. (botany) A fruit formed by the union of the floral organs or part of them, with the fruit itself, as in Nyctagineae; also applied to fruits with accessories, sometimes termed pseudocarps, as the strawberry and pineapple.[6]

See also

• infructescence
• sorosis

References

1. Chittenden, Fred J. Ed., Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening, Oxford 1951
4. Allied Chambers (1998) The Chambers Dictionary‎, Allied Publishers, →ISBN, pages 63–
5. Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014
6. Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. London, 4th ed 1928

One entire pineapple infructescence and one vertical section through one; each projection on the yellow mass is the tip of one fruit in the infructescence.

Vertical section through two fruit in a pineapple infructescence, showing the remnants of the perianths at their tips

Anagrams

• narcopath