kokoelmähedelmä

Kokoelmähedelmä is a Finnish term that translates to "collection fruit" or "assembly fruit." It refers to a type of composite fruit where multiple individual fruits develop from the carpels of a single flower. These individual fruits are often fused together or closely clustered, creating a larger, seemingly single entity. The development involves the ovaries of a single flower, each containing one or more ovules that mature into seeds.

Examples of kokoelmähedelmä can be found in various plant families. In the Rosaceae family, fruits like the strawberry (Fragaria) can be considered a type of kokoelmähedelmä, where the fleshy part is an enlarged receptacle, and the tiny "seeds" on the surface are actually individual achenes, each developed from a separate carpel. Another example is the raspberry (Rubus idaeus), which is an aggregate fruit composed of many small drupelets, each originating from a separate carpel of the same flower.

The term emphasizes the origin of the fruit from multiple distinct carpels within a single flower, differentiating it from other types of compound fruits that might arise from multiple flowers (like a multiple fruit) or from a single carpel. The appearance of kokoelmähedelmä can vary greatly, from the recognizable drupelets of a raspberry to the more fused structures found in other species. Understanding this classification helps in botanical identification and in appreciating the diversity of reproductive strategies in plants.