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 indehiscent (do not open at maturity) and 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. Typical achenes are the fruits of buttercup and buckwheat. It is sometimes spelled akene, and rarely called achenium or achenocarp.

Related Topics:
Fruit - Flowering plant - Seed - Pericarp - Buttercup - Buckwheat

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The most famous 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.

Related Topics:
Strawberry - Accessory fruit

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Fruits of sedges are also considered achenes sometimes because it has 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.

Related Topics:
Sedge - Asteraceae - Sunflower

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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.

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

Related Topics:
Maple - Samara

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Utricle is like an achene, but it doesn't have a simple ovary, but a compound one. In addition, its fruit ovary becomes bladdery or corky.

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