Multiple fruit
Encyclopedia
Multiple fruits are fruits that are formed from a cluster of flowers (called an inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

). Each flower in the inflorescence produces a fruit, but these mature into a single mass. Examples are the pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...

, fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

, mulberry
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....

, osage-orange
Osage-orange
Maclura pomifera, commonly called Osage-orange, hedge-apple, Horse-apple, Bois D'Arc, or Bodark, is a small deciduous tree or large shrub, typically growing to tall. It is dioeceous, with male and female flowers on different plants...

, and breadfruit
Breadfruit
Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...

.

In the photograph on the left, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni
Noni
Morinda citrifolia, commonly known as great morinda, Indian mulberry, nunaakai , dog dumpling , mengkudu , Kumudu , pace , beach mulberry, cheese fruit or noni is a tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae...

 or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia) 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 (merge) into a multiple fleshy fruit called a syncarp. There are also many dry multiple fruits.

Other examples of multiple fruits:
  • Platanus
    Platanus
    Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....

    , teasel, Asteraceae
    Asteraceae
    The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...

     multiple achenes from multiple flowers, in a single fruit structure
  • Mulberry, multiple flowers form one fruit
  • Common Fig
    Common fig
    The Common fig is a deciduous tree growing to heights of up to 6 m in the genus Ficus from the family Moraceae known as Common fig tree. It is a temperate species native to the Middle East.-Description:...

    , multiple flowers form one fruit (inside the fruit)


Similar structures are formed from single flowers that have more than one pistil, and these are called aggregate fruits, e.g.:
  • Strawberry
    Strawberry
    Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...

    , aggregate of achenes on a fleshy receptacle
  • Tuliptree, aggregate of samaras.
  • Sweet gum, aggregate of capsules.
  • Magnolia
    Magnolia
    Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....

    , aggregate of follicles.
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