multifruit

Multifruit, in botanical usage, refers to a fruit that develops from the ovaries of several flowers borne in a single inflorescence. In formal terms, such structures are called multiple fruits or syncarps. This contrasts with aggregate fruits, which form from many ovaries within a single flower, and with simple fruits, which develop from a single ovary.

In a multiple fruit, the ovaries of many flowers ripen and the surrounding tissues, including parts of the receptacle, fuse to form a single, composite fruit. The result is a sizable edible structure with seeds derived from the individual flowers that contributed to the inflorescence. The external flesh of a multifuit is often continuous across the former fruitlets.

Common examples include pineapple (Ananas comosus), a fruit formed from the fused ovaries of dozens to hundreds of flowers in a single inflorescence; breadfruit and jackfruit (Artocarpus species), large fruits produced from dense inflorescences; and fig fruits (Ficus species), where a closed inflorescence called a syconium houses many tiny flowers that collectively become the edible fruit. Some botanists also classify osage orange (Maclura pomifera) as a multiple fruit.

Although known in botanical circles as multiple fruits, the term multifruit is less common in everyday usage. The concept helps explain why certain fruits are unusually large or segmented yet ripen as a single unit. In horticulture and taxonomy, recognizing a multifuit can aid in understanding plant reproduction and fruit development.