Pome

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An apple is a pome fruit. The parts of the fruit are labelled. Pome apples text.jpg
An apple is a pome fruit. The parts of the fruit are labelled.

In botany, a pome[ pronunciation? ] is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Pome fruits consist of a central "core" containing multiple small seeds, which is enveloped by a tough membrane and surrounded by an edible layer of flesh. [1] Pome fruit trees are deciduous, and undergo a dormant winter period that requires cold temperatures to break dormancy in spring. [1] Well-known pomes include the apple, pear, and quince. [1]

Contents

Etymology

The word pome entered English in the late 14th century, and referred to an apple or an apple-shaped object. It derived from the Old French word for "apple": pome (12th century; modern French is pomme), which in turn derived from the Late Latin or Vulgar Latin word poma "apple", originally the plural of Latin pomum "fruit", later "apple". [2]

Morphology

A pome is an accessory fruit composed of one or more carpels surrounded by accessory tissue. The accessory tissue is interpreted by some specialists as an extension of the receptacle and is then referred to as "fruit cortex", [3] and by others as a fused hypanthium (floral cup). [3] It is the most edible part of this fruit.[ citation needed ]

The carpels of a pome are fused within the "core". [4] Although the epicarp, mesocarp, and endocarp of some other fruit types look very much like the skin, flesh, and core respectively of a pome, they are parts of the carpel (see above diagram). The epicarp and mesocarp of a pome may be fleshy and difficult to distinguish from one another and from the hypanthial tissue. The endocarp forms a leathery or stony case around the seed, and corresponds to what is commonly called the core.[ citation needed ]

Pome-type fruit with stony rather than leathery endocarp may be called a polypyrenous drupe . [5]

The shriveled remains of the sepals, style and stamens can sometimes be seen at the end of a pome opposite the stem, and the ovary is therefore often described as inferior in these flowers.[ citation needed ]

Examples

Pomes of common medlar, Mespilus germanica Mespilus germanica 01.jpg
Pomes of common medlar, Mespilus germanica

The best-known example of a pome is the apple. Other examples of plants that produce fruit classified as a pome are Cotoneaster , Crataegus (hawthorn and mayhaw), medlar, pear, Pyracantha , quince, rowan, loquat, toyon, and whitebeam.[ citation needed ]

Some pomes may have a mealy texture (e.g., some apples); others (e.g., Amelanchier , Aronia ) are berry-like with juicy flesh and a core that is not very noticeable.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruit</span> Seed-bearing part of a flowering plant

In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pear</span> Any of several edible fruits from the genus Pyrus

Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus Pyrus, in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the same name. Several species of pears are valued for their edible fruit and juices, while others are cultivated as trees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosaceae</span> Rose family of flowering plants

Rosaceae, the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maloideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

The MaloideaeC.Weber was the apple subfamily, a grouping used by some taxonomists within the rose family, Rosaceae. Recent molecular phylogenetic evidence has shown that the traditional Spiraeoideae and Amygdaloideae form part of the same clade as the traditional Maloideae, and the correct name for this group is Amygdaloideae. Earlier circumscriptions of Maloideae are more-or-less equivalent to subtribe Malinae or to tribe Maleae. The group includes a number of plants bearing commercially important fruits, such as apples and pears, while others are cultivated as ornamentals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amygdaloideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Amygdaloideae is a subfamily within the flowering plant family Rosaceae. It was formerly considered by some authors to be separate from Rosaceae, and the family names Prunaceae and Amygdalaceae have been used. Reanalysis from 2007 has shown that the previous definition of subfamily Spiraeoideae was paraphyletic. To solve this problem, a larger subfamily was defined that includes the former Amygdaloideae, Spiraeoideae, and Maloideae. This subfamily, however, is to be called Amygdaloideae rather than Spiraeoideae under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants as updated in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drupe</span> Fleshy fruit with hard inner layer (endocarp or stone) surrounding the seed

In botany, a drupe is an indehiscent type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a single shell of hardened endocarp with a seed (kernel) inside. These fruits usually develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries.

<i>Prunus</i> Genus of trees and shrubs

Prunus is a genus of trees and shrubs in the flowering plant family Rosaceae that includes plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and almonds. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, being native to the North American temperate regions, the neotropics of South America, and temperate and tropical regions of Asia and Africa, There are 340 accepted species. Many members of the genus are widely cultivated for their fruit and for decorative purposes. Prunus fruit are drupes, or stone fruits. The fleshy mesocarp surrounding the endocarp is edible while the endocarp itself forms a hard, inedible shell called the pyrena. This shell encloses the seed, which is edible in some species, but poisonous in many others. Besides being eaten off the hand, most Prunus fruit are also commonly used in processing, such as jam production, canning, drying, and the seeds for roasting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accessory fruit</span> Botanical category of fruit

An accessory fruit is a fruit that contains tissue derived from plant parts other than the ovary. In other words, the flesh of the fruit develops not from the floral ovary, but from some adjacent tissue exterior to the carpel. As a general rule, the accessory fruit is a combination of several floral organs, including the ovary. In contrast, true fruit forms exclusively from the ovary of the flower.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quince</span> Species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae

The quince is the sole member of the genus Cydonia in the Malinae subtribe of the Rosaceae family. It is a deciduous tree that bears hard, aromatic bright golden-yellow pome fruit, similar in appearance to a pear. Ripe quince fruits are hard, tart, and astringent. They are eaten raw or processed into marmalade, jam, paste or alcoholic beverages.

<i>Chaenomeles</i> Species of shrub

Chaenomeles is a genus of four species of deciduous spiny shrubs, usually 1–3 m tall, in the family Rosaceae. They are native to Southeast Asia. These plants are related to the quince and the Chinese quince, differing in the serrated leaves that lack fuzz, and in the flowers, borne in clusters, having deciduous sepals and styles that are connate at the base.

<i>Mammea americana</i> Species of tree

Mammea americana, commonly known as mammee, mammee apple, mamey, mamey apple, Santo Domingo apricot, tropical apricot, or South American apricot, is an evergreen tree of the family Calophyllaceae, whose fruit is edible. It has also been classified as belonging to the family Guttiferae Juss. (1789), which would make it a relative of the mangosteen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyrena</span> Pit or stone within a drupe or fruit

A pyrena or pyrene is the fruitstone within a drupe or drupelet produced by the ossification of the endocarp or lining of the fruit. It consists of a hard endocarp tissue surrounding one or more seeds. The hardened endocarp which constitutes the pyrene provides a protective physical barrier around the seed, shielding it from pathogens and herbivory.

<i>Pseudocydonia</i> Genus of trees

Pseudocydonia sinensis or Chinese quince is a deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the family Rosaceae, native to southern and eastern China. It is the sole species in the genus Pseudocydonia. Its hard, astringent fruit is used in traditional Chinese medicine and as a food in East Asia. Trees are generally 10–18 metres (33–59 ft) tall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berry (botany)</span> Botanical fruit with fleshy pericarp, containing one or many seeds

In botany, a berry is a fleshy fruit without a stone (pit) produced from a single flower containing one ovary. Berries so defined include grapes, currants, and tomatoes, as well as cucumbers, eggplants (aubergines), persimmons and bananas, but exclude certain fruits that meet the culinary definition of berries, such as strawberries and raspberries. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire outer layer of the ovary wall ripens into a potentially edible "pericarp". Berries may be formed from one or more carpels from the same flower. The seeds are usually embedded in the fleshy interior of the ovary, but there are some non-fleshy exceptions, such as Capsicum species, with air rather than pulp around their seeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruit (plant structure)</span> Internal makeup of fruits

Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits.

Plectocomiopsis is a dioecious genus of flowering plant in the palm family found in Indochina, Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra. Hapaxanthic and armed with spines, they are a climbing rattan, closely related to the Myrialepis palms. The name is Greek for "similar to Plectocomia", another close relative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simple fruit</span>

Simple fruits are the result of the ripening-to-fruit of a simple or compound ovary in a single flower with a single pistil. In contrast, a single flower with numerous pistils typically produces an aggregate fruit; and the merging of several flowers, or a 'multiple' of flowers, results in a 'multiple' fruit. A simple fruit is further classified as either dry or fleshy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maleae</span> Tribe of flowering plants

The Maleae are the apple tribe in the rose family, Rosaceae. The group includes a number of plants bearing commercially important fruits, such as apples and pears, while others are cultivated as ornamentals. Older taxonomies separated some of this group as tribe Crataegeae, as the Cydonia group, or some genera were placed in family Quillajaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malinae</span> Subtribe of flowering plants

Malinae is the name for the apple subtribe in the rose family, Rosaceae. This name is required by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, which came into force in 2011 for any group at the subtribe rank that includes the genus Malus but not either of the genera Rosa or Amygdalus. The group includes a number of plants bearing commercially important fruits, such as apples and pears, while others are cultivated as ornamentals.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Apples, pears and other pome fruit". www.dpi.nsw.gov.au. 2017. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  2. Harper, Douglas. "Online Etymological Dictionary: entry: pome". Online Etymological Dictionary. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  3. 1 2 Esau, K. 1977. Anatomy of seed plants. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
  4. Hickey, M.; King, C. (2001). The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms. Cambridge University Press.
  5. Potter, D.; Eriksson, T.; Evans, R.C.; Oh, S.; Smedmark, J.E.E.; Morgan, D.R.; Kerr, M.; Robertson, K.R.; Arsenault, M.; Dickinson, T.A.; Campbell, C.S. (2007). "Phylogeny and classification of Rosaceae" . Plant Systematics and Evolution. 266 (1–2): 5–43. doi:10.1007/s00606-007-0539-9. S2CID   16578516.