Fruit
A travel ticket for the seed.
A fruit is not there to feed us — that is a happy accident. Its real mission: protect the seed and make it travel. A fleshy, sweet fruit “pays” an animal to carry the seed away; a dry fruit splits open, clings on, or flies on the wind. Color and taste are messages addressed to whoever will disperse the seed.
The diversity of the fruit
Browse the photos with the arrows. Click the image to open it fullscreen.
The types and parts of the fruit
Each part has a role. Look at the photo, read its description — let the plant speak.
Fleshy fruit
Fruit whose wall becomes soft, juicy and often edible (mango, tomato).
Dehiscent fruit
Dry fruit that opens at maturity to release its seeds (pod, capsule).
Indehiscent fruit
Dry fruit that stays closed and is dispersed with the seed inside (achene, nut).
Pericarp
Wall of the fruit formed from the ovary, made of three layers: exocarp (outer), mesocarp (middle) and endocarp (inner).
Open a fruit. Count the seeds, look at how they are protected. How do they travel? Post your discovery.
- 01 Take a photo of the fruit and its parts.
- 02 Name what you see: Fleshy fruit, Dehiscent fruit, Indehiscent fruit.
- 03 Post your photo in the group and compare with the community.
