Drupe - Revision history

Raffi: link

2009-04-06T18:50:48Z

link

Raffi: sch

2009-04-06T18:50:28Z

sch

Envoy at 12:44, 17 September 2007

2007-09-17T12:44:38Z

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{{mergefrom|Corking (stone fruit)|date=August 2007}}
[[Image:Autumn Red peaches.jpg|250px|thumb|right|The peach is a typical '''drupe''' (stone fruit)]]
[[Image:Nectarine_stone.jpg|250px|thumb|right|A stone from a [[nectarine]] close up]]

In [[botany]], a '''drupe''' is a [[fruit]] in which an outer fleshy part ([[exocarp]], or skin; and [[mesocarp]], or flesh) surrounds a shell (the ''pit'' or ''stone'') of hardened [[endocarp]] with a [[seed]] inside. These fruits develop from a single [[carpel]], and mostly from [[flower]]s with [[superior ovary|superior ovaries]]. The definitive characteristic of a drupe is that the hard, lignified ''stone'' (or pit) is derived from the ovary wall of the flower.

Other fleshy fruits may have a stony enclosure that comes from the seed coat surrounding the seed. These fruits are not drupes.

Some [[flowering plant]]s that produce drupes are [[Coffea arabica|coffee]], [[jujube]], [[mango]], [[olive]], most palms (including [[Date Palm|date]], [[coconut]] and [[oil palm]]s), [[pistachio]] and all members of the genus ''[[Prunus]]'', including the [[almond]] (in which the [[mesocarp]] is somewhat leathery), [[apricot]], [[cherry]], [[nectarine]], [[peach]], and [[plum]].

The term '''stone fruit''' can be a synonym for "drupe" or, more typically, it can mean just the fruit of the ''Prunus'' species.

[[image:Black Butte blackberry.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Black Butte Blackberry, a bramble fruit of aggregated drupelets]]
Drupes, with their sweet, fleshy outer layer, attract the attention of animals as a [[food]], and the plant population benefits from the resulting dispersal of its seeds. The ''endocarp'' (pit or stone) is often swallowed, passing through the [[digestive tract]], and returned to the soil in [[feces]] with the seed inside unharmed; sometimes it is dropped after the fleshy part is eaten.

Many stone fruits contain [[sorbitol]], which can exacerbate conditions such as [[irritable bowel syndrome]] and [[fructose malabsorption]].

The [[coconut]] is also a drupe, but the mesocarp is fibrous or dry (in this case, called a '''husk'''), so this type of fruit is classified as a ''simple dry fruit, fibrous drupe''. Unlike other drupes, the coconut seed is unlikely to be dispersed by being swallowed by [[Fauna (animals)|fauna]], due to its large size. It can, however, float extremely long distances across oceans.

In an [[Fruit#Aggregate fruit|aggregate fruit]] composed of small, individual drupes, each individual is termed a '''drupelet'''. [[Bramble]] fruits (such as the [[blackberry]] or the [[raspberry]]) are aggregates of drupelets.  The fruit of blackberries and raspberries comes from a single flower whose [[pistil]] is made up of a number of free carpels. However, [[mulberry|mulberries]], which closely resemble blackberries, are actually derived from bunches of [[catkin]]s, each drupelet thus belonging to a different flower.

[[Image:NIEdot325.jpg|100px|Drupes]]

{{fruits}}

[[Category:Fruit| types01 drupe]]
[[Category:plant morphology]]
[[Category:Edible nuts and seeds]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:Nectarine_stone.jpg|250px|thumb|right|A stone from a [[nectarine]] close up]]
-A fleshy one-seeded [[indehiscent]] fruit, with seed enclosed in a stony [[endocarp]]; stone-fruit. {{SCH}}
+A fleshy one-seeded [[indehiscent]] [[fruit]], with seed enclosed in a stony [[endocarp]]; stone-fruit. {{SCH}}
 ==Gallery==