What is the difference between a legume and a silique

Follicle 8. Grain Caryopsis 9. Hesperidium Legume Multiple Fruit Nut Pepo Pome Samara Schizocarp Silique Syconium Simple Fruits: A single ripened ovary from a single flower. Fleshy Fruits: All of most of the ovary wall pericarp is soft or fleshy at maturity. Berry: Entire pericarp is fleshy, although skin is sometimes tough; may be one or many seeded.

The latter two fruits are often termed baccate berry-like. The banana fruit is a seedless, parthenocarpic berry developing without pollination and fertilization.

In the pomegranate, the edible part is the fleshy layer aril around each seed. For photos of many of these berries, look them up by their common name in the Wayne's Word Index. According to Spjut , the pepo is not limited to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae. The papaya Carica is a pepo because of its thick outer rind. He also considers the banana Musa to be pepo.

The pomegranate has a persistant calyx and endocarp reminiscent of a pome, and membranous partitions, juicy seed vesicles, and a leathery exocarp similar to a hesperidium. Spjut classifies the pomegranate as a "balusta. The Remarkable World Of Gourds. See Article About Hesperidiums. Dehiscent Dry Fruits: Pericarp splits open along definite seams. Legume: An elongate "bean pod" splitting along two seams; typical fruit of the third largest plant family, the legume family Leguminosae or Fabaceae.

The pod represents one folded modified leaf or carpel that is fused along the edges. Note: Some legume fruits are indehiscent, including the carob tree, mesquite and honey locust. In addition, some legume fruits are oblong, rounded, kidney-shaped reniform , or coiled spiral-shaped , such as sweet clover Melilotus alba and M.

Some specialized legume fruits called loments break apart into indehiscent one-seeded joints. A good example of a loment is the very effective hitchhiker called stick-tights or beggar's-ticks Desmodium cuspidatum. Achene: Very small, one-seeded fruit, usually produced in clusters.

It has been planted on road cuts for erosion control, but is a very invasive perennial with creeping rhizomes and prolific seed production. Stick-tights or beggar's-ticks Desmodium cuspidatum produces slender loments that break into small, one-seeded joints covered with tiny barbed hairs. The individual joints are so flat that they are exceedingly difficult to remove from your socks.

Like little flat ticks, you must individually pull off each one. This can be exasperating when your socks are covered with them. Several species of this remarkable hitchhiking herb are native to the midwestern and eastern United States. The separate carpels of a true capsule were originally fused together to form the pistil or gynoecium.

They separate along the septa or along the locules between septa. Four methods of dehiscence in capsules: The carpels may separate along the septa or along the locules between the septa. Some capsules dehisce by a lid that falls off exposing the seeds. Poppies of the genus Papaver , including the opium poppy P. As the capsule moves back and forth in the wind, the seeds are released like a pepper shaker.

It sould be noted here that some capsules are indehiscent. Their carpels do not separate and release the seeds. Two examples of plants with indehiscent capsules are the South African baobab tree Adansonia digitata and two species of South African gardenias Gardenia thunbergii and G. The seed pods of South African gardenias are chewed opened by large herbivores, and the seeds are dispersed in their feces. Indehiscent capsule of the baobab tree Adansonia digitata.

Left: A dry fruit showing the velvety outer exocarp. Right: Longitudinal section of a dry fruit showing the large, angular seeds. Each seed is embedded in a white pulp which has a pleasant tart flavor. The lower left seed has been removed from the pulp.

The common names of "cream-of-tarter tree" and "lemonade tree" are derivied from the powdered pulp which is mixed which water to make a refreshing drink. Baboons tear open the fruits to eat this tasty pulp. The single carpel of a follicle splits open along one seam. When completely opened, the carpel resembles a thick, dried leaf.

It is easy to see that the single carpel of a follicle is a modified, seed-bearing leaf megasporophyll. The silique is an elongate fruit composed of two carpels separated by a seed-bearing partition. The silicle is very similar except it is much shorter less than twice as long as broad.

Siliques and silicles have parietal placentation. They are the characteristic fruits of the mustard family Brassicaceae. Some members of the mustard family have siliques that do not split longitudinally into two separate carpels. For example, fruits of the radish Raphanus sativus split transversely into seed-bearing sections joints. The overlapping seeds of bitter cress Cardamine are connected to alternate edges of the septum within each locule.

The minute seeds are attached to both margins of the central septum. This revelation requires the skillful use of a dissecting microscope.

In the Jepson Flora of California , this genus keys out under "one row of seeds in each locule," without mentioning the alternating seed attachments along both edges of the septum. Apparently, the superficial appearance of the overlapping seeds in a single file is the defining character for the key. A species of bitter cress Cardamine collected along the damp seepage area of a lawn in northern San Diego County.

It is an annual with a fibrous root system without rhizomes. The leafy stems are erect or ascending curving upward from the base. The leaves are odd pinnate with 2 or three pairs of leaflets.

This species of bitter cress greatly resembles the European annual C.