Multiple fruit

Multiple fruits, also called collective fruits, are fruiting bodies formed from a cluster of <a href="/facts/Flower/7gI5Kefw">flowers</a>, the <a href="/facts/Inflorescence/CvpNd4vS">inflorescence</a>. Each flower in the inflorescence produces a <a href="/facts/Fruit/PBpuzk60">fruit</a>, but these mature into a single mass. After flowering, the mass is called an <a href="/facts/Infructescence/DvKfhqCa">infructescence</a>. Examples are the <a href="/facts/Ficus/70M2tmEB">fig</a>, <a href="/facts/Pineapple/LIAWHdQm">pineapple</a>, <a href="/facts/Mulberry/F2Kr7Lr5">mulberry</a>, <a href="/facts/Osage_orange/gRagUYpF">osage orange</a>, and <a href="/facts/Jackfruit/u1BYkNU0">jackfruit</a>.
In contrast, an <a href="/facts/Aggregate_fruit/0K8eSeeT">aggregate fruit</a> such as a raspberry develops from multiple <a href="/facts/Ovary_(botany)/Qug4yDY4">ovaries</a> of a single flower. In languages other than English, the meanings of "multiple" and "aggregate" fruit are reversed, so that multiple fruits merge several pistils within a single flower.
In some cases, the infructescences are similar in appearance to simple fruits. One example is pineapple (Ananas), which is formed from the <a href="/facts/Adnation/I1QPbVRW">fusion</a> of the <a href="/facts/Berry_(botany)/2JfhI0vw">berries</a> with <a href="/facts/Receptacle_(botany)/sUVrrdwS">receptacle</a> tissues and <a href="/facts/Bract/pnMGNMdn">bracts</a>.

As shown in the photograph of the <a href="/facts/Noni/b0gTk58C">noni</a>, stages of flowering and fruit development in the <a href="/facts/Noni/b0gTk58C">noni</a> or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia) can be observed on a single branch. First an inflorescence of white <a href="/facts/Flowers/7gI5Kefw">flowers</a> called a head is produced. After <a href="/facts/Fertilization/g8u3UKzF">fertilization</a>, each flower develops into a drupe, and as the drupes expand, they become connate (merge) into a multiple fleshy fruit called a syncarp. There are also many dry multiple fruits.
Other examples of multiple fruits:

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Platanus/7bKQWPHo">Plane tree</a>, multiple achenes from multiple flowers, in a single fruit structure</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Morus_(plant)/F2Kr7Lr5">Mulberry</a>, multiple flowers form one fruit</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Breadfruit/5Ggtr0gx">Breadfruit</a>, multiple flowers form one fruit</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ficus/70M2tmEB">Fig</a>, multiple flowers similar to mulberry infructescence form a multiple fruit inside the inverted inflorescence. This form is called a <a href="/facts/Syconium/CQD4b0eD">syconium</a>.</li></ul>

Multiple fruit open-in-new

Multiple fruit