Drupe

In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an

indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy
part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or
flesh) surrounds a single shell (the pit,
stone, or pyrene) of hardened endocarp
with a seed (kernel) inside.[1] These fruits
usually develop from a single carpel, and
mostly from flowers with superior
ovaries[1] (polypyrenous drupes are
exceptions).
Diagram of a typical drupe (peach), showing both
fruit and seed

The development sequence of a typical drupe, a

smooth-skinned (nectarine) type of peach (Prunus
persica) over a 71⁄2-month period, from bud
formation in early winter to fruit ripening in
midsummer
The definitive characteristic of a drupe is
that the hard, "lignified" stone
(sometimes called "pit") is derived from
the ovary wall of the flower. In an
aggregate fruit, which is composed of
small, individual drupes (such as a
raspberry), each individual is termed a
drupelet, and may together form an
aggregate fruit. Such fruits are often
termed "berries", although botanists use
a different definition of a berry. Other
fleshy fruits may have a stony enclosure
that comes from the seed coat
surrounding the seed, but such fruits are
not drupes.
Flowering plants that produce drupes
include coffee, jujube, mango, olive, most
palms (including açaí, date, sabal,
coconut and oil palms), pistachio, white
sapote, cashew, and all members of the
genus Prunus, including the almond,
apricot, cherry, damson, peach, nectarine,
and plum.

The term drupaceous is applied to a fruit

having the structure and texture of a
drupe,[2] but which does not precisely fit
the definition of a drupe.

Terminology
The boundary between a drupe and a
berry is not always clear. Thus, some
sources describe the fruit of species of
the genus Persea, which includes the
avocado, as a drupe,[3] others describe
avocado fruit as a berry.[4] One definition
of berry requires the endocarp to be less
than 2 mm (3⁄32 in) thick, other fruits with
a stony endocarp being drupes.[5] In
marginal cases, terms such as
drupaceous or drupe-like may be
used.[2][5]

The term stone fruit (also stonefruit) can

be a synonym for drupe or, more typically,
it can mean just the fruit of the genus
Prunus.

Freestone refers to a drupe having a

stone which can be removed from the
flesh with ease. The flesh is not attached
to the stone and does not need to be cut
to free the stone. Freestone varieties of
fruits are preferred for uses that require
careful removal of the stone, especially if
removal will be done by hand. Freestone
plums are preferred for making
homegrown prunes, and freestone sour
cherries are preferred for making pies
and cherry soup.

Clingstone refers to a drupe having a

stone which cannot easily be removed
from the flesh. The flesh is attached
strongly to the stone and must be cut to
free the stone. Clingstone varieties of
fruits in the genus Prunus are preferred
as table fruit and for jams, because the
flesh of clingstone fruits tends to be
more tender and juicy throughout.

Tryma is a specialized term for such nut-

like drupes that are difficult to
categorize. Hickory nuts (Carya) and
walnuts (Juglans) in the Juglandaceae
family grow within an outer husk; these
fruits are technically drupes or
drupaceous nuts, thus are not true
botanical nuts.[4][6]

Ecology
Many drupes, with their sweet, fleshy
outer layer, attract the attention of
animals as a food, and the plant
population benefits from the resulting
dispersal of its seeds. The endocarp (pit
or stone) is sometimes dropped after the
fleshy part is eaten, but is often
swallowed, passing through the digestive
tract, and returned to the soil in feces
with the seed inside unharmed. This
passage through the digestive tract can
reduce the thickness of the endocarp,
thus can aid in germination rates. The
process is known as scarification.

Examples
Typical drupes include apricots, olives,
loquat, peaches, plums, cherries,
mangoes, pecans, and amlas (Indian
gooseberries). Other examples include
sloe (Prunus spinosa) and ivy (Hedera
helix).[7]

The coconut is also a drupe, but the

mesocarp is fibrous or dry (termed a
husk[1]), so this type of fruit is classified
as a simple dry, fibrous drupe. Unlike
other drupes, the coconut seed is so
large that it is unlikely to be dispersed by
being swallowed by fauna, but it can float
extremely long distances—across
oceans.

Bramble fruits such as the blackberry

and the raspberry are aggregates of
drupelets. The fruit of blackberries and
raspberries comes from a single flower
whose pistil is made up of a number of
free carpels. However, mulberries, which
closely resemble blackberries, are not
aggregate fruit, but are multiple fruits,
actually derived from bunches of catkins,
each drupelet thus belonging to a
different flower.

Certain drupes occur in large clusters, as

in the case of palm species, where a
sizable array of drupes is found in a
cluster. Examples of such large drupe
clusters include dates, Jubaea chilensis[8]
in central Chile and Washingtonia filifera
in the Sonoran Desert of North America.

Gallery
Assorted drupes

The peach is a typical drupe (stone fruit)

'Elena', a freestone prune plum

The pit of a nectarine

Unripe drupes of black pepper

'Black Butte' blackberry, a bramble fruit of

aggregated drupelets
 A ripe areca nut

See also
Pome (polypyrenous drupe)

References
1. Stern, Kingsley R. (1997).
Introductory Plant Biology
(Seventh ed.). Dubuque: Wm. C.
Brown. ISBN 0-07-114448-X.
2. Kiger, Robert W. & Porter, Duncan M.
(2001). "Find term 'drupaceous' " .
Categorical Glossary for the Flora of
North America Project. Retrieved
2015-08-14.
3. Wofford, B. Eugene. "Persea" . In
Flora of North America Editorial
Committee (ed.). Flora of North
America (online). eFloras.org.
Retrieved 2017-03-29.
4. W.P. Armstrong. 2008. Identification
Of Major Fruit Types
5. Beentje, Henk (2010). The Kew Plant
Glossary. Richmond, Surrey: Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 978-1-
84246-422-9.
 6. W.P. Armstrong. 2008. Fruits Called
Nuts
7. Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and
Warburg, E.F. 1968. Excursion Flora
of the British Isles. Cambridge
University PressISBN 0-521-04656-4
8. C. Michael Hogan. 2008. Chilean
Wine Palm: Jubaea chilensis,
GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N.
Stromberg Archived October 17,
2012, at the Wayback Machine

External links

Look up freestone or clingstone in

Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
 Identification Of Major Fruit Types
Fruits Called Nuts
"Drupe"  . New International
Encyclopedia. 1905.

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