dry fruits [2]

Fruits with usually edible seeds, surrounded by a single dry, somewhat rigid layer.

section of a legume: pea

Legume: dry single-chambered fruit that splits in two places when ripe: along the suture and along the midrib of its casing.

hull

Usual term for the pod’s pericarp, which bears the seeds; when the fruit is ripe, it splits in two distinct places to release the seeds.

funiculus

Slender strand that connects the seed to the midrib and provides food from the plant to the developing seed.

style

Visible remnant of the flower’s style, now withered, that once connected the stigma to the ovary.

suture

Visible seam on the surface of the fruit’s casing, along which the fruit splits to release its seeds.

midrib

Hollow flange that is an extension of the petiole; when ripe, the fruit splits along it to release its seeds.

pea

Round green fruit seed of varying size; it is edible.

calyx

Coil of the flower’s sepals, which remain until the pod ripens.

section of a silique: mustard

Silique: dry fruit with two valves that, when the fruit is ripe, split to release seeds.

septum

Thin barrier, bearing seeds on each side that drop when the valves open.

seed

Structure formed by the development of a fertile ovule; it contains an embryo and nutrient reserves that enable a new plant to grow.

style

Upper beak-shaped part of the fruit; it is sterile, thus contains no seeds.

valve

The two parts of the fruit’s casing that, when it is ripe, separate to release the seeds.