Multiple fruit
Multiple fruits are fruits that are formed from a cluster of flowers. Each flower in the inflorescence produces a fruit, but these mature into a single mass. Examples are the fig, pineapple, mulberry, osage-orange, and breadfruit. In some plants, such as this noni, flowers are produced regularly along the stem and it is possible to see together examples of flowering, fruit development, and fruit ripening In the photograph on the left, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni or Indian mulberry can be observed on a single branch. First an inflorescence of white flowers called a head is produced. After fertilization, each flower develops into a drupe, and as the drupes expand, they become
connate into a
multiple fleshy fruit called a
syncarp. There are also many dry multiple fruits. Other examples of multiple fruits: ▪ Platanus, multiple achenes from multiple flowers, in a single fruit structure ▪ Mulberry, multiple flowers form one...