infructescence

An infructescence is the mature, ripened state of an inflorescence, which is a cluster of flowers. Essentially, it is the fruiting structure that develops after the flowers have been pollinated and fertilized. The term refers to the entire collection of fruits that arise from a single inflorescence, rather than an individual fruit. The arrangement and form of the fruits within an infructescence often mirror the arrangement of the flowers in the original inflorescence. For example, a spike inflorescence might develop into a spike infructescence, with multiple fruits arranged along a central axis. Similarly, a raceme inflorescence bearing multiple flowers will mature into a raceme infructescence with multiple fruits. The structure can vary greatly depending on the plant species and the type of inflorescence it originates from. Some infructescences are simple, like a cluster of berries on a stem, while others are more complex, such as the composite fruits of a pineapple or fig. The study of infructescences is important in botany for plant identification and understanding reproductive strategies.