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'Multiple fruit's are fruits that are formed from a cluster of flowers (called an ''inflorescence'') growing on a catkin. Each flower on the catkin produces a fruit (drupelet), but these mature into a single mass.^[1] Examples are the pineapple, edible fig, mulberry, osage-orange, and breadfruit.

In the photograph on the left, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni 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 ''syncarpet''.^[2]
There are also many dry multiple fruits, e.g.

★ Tuliptree, multiple of samaras.

★ Sweet gum, multiple of capsules.

★ Sycamore and teasel, multiple of achenes.

★ Magnolia, multiple of follicles.

★ Common Fig

Contents

See also

References

See also

★ Fruits

★ Compound fruit - aggregate fruit

References

1. Encyclopedic Dictionary, , , Schlegel, , ,
2. Morinda Citrifolia - A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References, , Philip M., Parker, ICON Group, , ISBN 0-497-00758-4