Achene

Achene

An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are "monocarpellate" (formed from one carpel) and (they do not open at maturity). Achenes contain a single seed that nearly fills the pericarp, but does not adhere to it. In many species, what we think of as the "seed" is actually an achene, a fruit containing the seed.

Examples

Typical achenes are the fruits of buttercup, buckwheat, and dandelion. It is sometimes spelled "akene", and occasionally called "achenium" or "achenocarp."

The most familiar achenes are those of the strawberry, where the "seeds" are the achenes (technically the 'botanical' fruits), while what is eaten as the ('culinary') fruit is a so-called accessory fruit.

Fruits of sedges are sometimes considered achenes because they have a one-locule compound ovary. By the same definition, the common fruit type in the Family Asteraceae is also usually considered "achene" (some term the asteraceous achene cypsela, however). A sunflower "seed" in the husk is not really a seed, but an achene. The white-gray husks are the walls of the fruit.

Variations

A winged achene, such as in maple, is called a samara.

A rose also produces achenes, which are nestled inside the rose hips (each rose hip, or the fruit, holds a few achenes).

A grain, a type of fruit closely resembling an achene, differs in that the pericarp is fused to the thin seed coat in the grain.

A utricle is like an achene, but it has a compound ovary, rather than a simple one. In addition, its fruit ovary becomes bladdery or corky.

External links

* [http://utc.usu.edu/factsheets/CarexFSF/glossary.htm Botanical Glossary]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Achene — Achêne   Achêne …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Achêne — Achêne …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Achene — A*chene , Achenium A*che ni*um . [Gr. a priv. + ? to gape.] (Bot.) A small, dry, indehiscent fruit, containing a single seed, as in the buttercup; called a {naked seed} by the earlier botanists. [Written also {akene} and {ach[ae]nium}.] [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Achēne — (lat. Achaenium), eine trockenschalige, nicht aufspringende Frucht. Näheres s. Frucht …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Achene — Achēne (Achäne), Schließfrucht (Achaenĭum), die nicht aufspringende Frucht der Kompositen, Rosazeen und Ranunkulazeen; meist mit bleibendem Kelch (Pappus) [Tafel: Botanik I, 50] …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • achene — [ā kēn′, əkēn′] n. [ModL achenium < Gr a , not + chainein, to gape: see YAWN] any small, dry, indehiscent fruit with one seed which is attached to the ovary wall only at one point, as the strawberry: see CARYOPSIS achenial [ākē′nē əl] adj …   English World dictionary

  • achène — akène [ akɛn ] n. m. VAR. achaine, achène • 1802; de 2. a et gr. khainein « s ouvrir » ♦ Bot. Fruit sec, indéhiscent, dont la graine unique n est pas soudée au péricarpe. L akène du pissenlit, du noisetier. Les akènes de la fraise. ⇒AKÈNE, ACHÈNE …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • achène — achaine ou achène (entrée créée par le supplément) (a kê n ) s. m. Voy. akène …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • achene — noun Etymology: New Latin achaenium, from a + Greek chainein to gape, yawn more at yawn Date: 1855 a small dry indehiscent one seeded fruit (as of a sunflower) developing from a simple ovary and usually having a thin pericarp attached to the seed …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • achene — achenial /ay kee nee euhl, euh kee /, adj. /ay keen , euh keen /, n. Bot. any small, dry, hard, one seeded, indehiscent fruit. Also, akene. [1835 45; < NL achaenium, equiv. to a A 6 + Gk chain (s. of chaínein to gape) + L ium IUM] * * * ▪ plant… …   Universalium

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