Follicle (fruit)
In botany, a follicle is a dry one-chambered (unilocular) fruit formed from one carpel, containing two or more seeds. It is defined as splitting (dehiscing) along one side in order to release seeds.[1] Examples are seen in Consolida, Asclepias and many species in the Proteaceae family.
Some difficult cases exist however, so that the term indehiscent follicle is sometimes used, for example with the genus Filipendula, which has indehiscent fruits that could be considered intermediate between a (dehiscent) follicle and an (indehiscent) achene.[2]
An aggregate fruit that consists of follicles may be called a follicetum. Examples include hellebore, aconite, Delphinium, Aquilegia or the family Crassulaceae, where several follicles occur in a whorl on a shortened receptacle, or Magnolia, which has many follicles arranged in a spiral on an elongated receptacle.[3]
The follicles of some species dehisce by the ventral suture (as in Banksia),[4] or by the dorsal suture (as in Magnolia).[5]
Follicles from Helleborus foetidus (Ranunculaceae)
Only some flowers in a Banksia inflorescence mature into follicles embedded in the "cone"
Follicles of Stenocarpus sinuatus (Proteaceae) will release papery brown seeds
Five follicles in the monofloral aggregate fruit of Brachychiton discolor (Malvaceae).
References
[edit]- ↑ Eckel, P.M. "A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin". Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
- ↑ "Flora of China online".
- ↑ Evich, Philip (2021). "The Botany of Magnolias". Smithsonian Gardens. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
- ↑ Renshaw, A.; Burgin, S. (2008). "Enantiomorphy in Banksia (Proteaceae): flowers and fruits". Australian Journal of Botany. 56 (4): 342–346. doi:10.1071/BT07073.
- ↑ Kapil, R. N. and N. N. Bhandari (1964) Morphology and embryology of Magnolia Archived 1 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Proc. nat. Inst. Sci. India 30, 245–262.
External links
[edit]
- . Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
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