What is the Function of Fruit in Flowering Plants?

Today we want to go over fruits in flowering plants and the different classifications that we can find when we think about fruits in flowering plants. We’re going to begin then talking about simple fruits.

Simple Fruits

Simple fruits are formed from one ovary, and they come in various forms, so a simple fruit, one ovary. Within that category of simple fruits from one ovary you can have the seed, the mature seed, encased by the fruit.

Things like: tomatoes, cherries, and apples are examples of simple fruits; one ovary with the seed being encased, the mature seed encased, by the fruit. Also, within this category, you can have the seeds on the outside.

It’s still a simple fruit from one ovary, but the seeds are on the outside. Things like corn and strawberries would be examples, then, of simple fruits with the seeds on the outside rather than encased.

Then, the last category we want to look at under simple fruits is botanical fruits. These are fruits developed out of a flower. Once again, you’ve got a simple fruit, one ovary, a flower develops, and out of that flower comes the fruit.

Things like: tomatoes, squash, and eggplant would be representative samples of botanical fruits. Then, sorry botanical fruits was not the last one. The last one we want to talk about is dry fruit. Also from simple fruits, form from one ovary, you can get dry fruits.

This basically means the one ovary, the outer layer of it, hardens around the seed, and you get things like peanuts and walnuts in this category of dried fruit. Under simple fruits, one ovary, you have: the seed in case, the seed on the outside, botanical fruits developing out of a flower, and dry fruits the outer wall of the ovary hardening.

Aggregate Fruits

Then, the next category of fruits and flowering plants we want to talk about, are aggregate fruits. Aggregate fruits. In this situation you’ve got many ovaries individually fertilized that then expand and develop from one flower, and you get the entire fruit from that.

Many ovaries individually fertilized, one flower. Things like raspberries and blackberries would fall under this category and when you look at them, you can see all the little individual ones.

Then the final one under fruits and flowering plants is multiple fruits. Multiple fruits. In this category you have, not one flower, but many flowers in one single structure. Many flowers from one single structure and here, think of things like pineapples and figs.

Multiple flowers, a single structure. Aggregate fruits, many ovaries, one flower. Simple fruits, one ovary. Start here one ovary, many ovaries, many flowers. We’ve listed some examples of each one of those and this is a good classification system for keeping in mind the various forms of fruits in flowering plants.