by Mary Free and Christa Watters, Extension Master Gardeners
This is the last word for 2023 and the last word in this monthly series, which has introduced the 54 new words added to our Illustrated Glossary this past year.. You may have recognized some words as common gardening or botanical terms—although commonly used words are not necessarily commonly understood or their usage commonly agreed to. Other words may have been more obscure, found mostly in flora guides and research papers. In any case, we hope you found them interesting and even helpful in your gardening endeavors.
Although this is the last word for this series, it is not the last word for the Glossary. We look forward, and we hope you do too, to the addition of new words (and posts) in 2024 and beyond!
Left to right: Loculicidal capsules of Impatiens capensis, septicidal capsules of Gelsemium sempervirens, septifragal capsules of Oenothera biennis, poricidal capsules of Papaver orientale, and siliques of Cardamine hirsuta.
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Of all of the plant parts, fruits perhaps generate the most debate among experts over types and terminolgy as well as some confusion among the rest of us. There are simple fruits, aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and accessory fruits. There are fleshy fruits, dry dehiscent fruits, and dry indehiscent fruits. Milkweed pods are follicles. Bananas are berries. Serviceberries are pomes. Holly berries are drupes. Almonds are not nuts but rather seeds within drupes. Pine nuts are seeds contained in strobili, which are not fruits at all. Peanuts are legumes. Small nuts are called nutlets but so are the stones of some drupes, one-seeded portions of certain fruits, or thick-walled achenes. Strawberries are aggregates (etaerios) of achenes. Samaras are winged achenes. And, in the Asteraceae, fruit once considered achenes are now called cypselas.
The most common fruits, though, are capsules, which come in many shapes and sizes and are categorized by how they split open to release their seeds. To learn more, click on our latest and last word for 2023, capsule.