In botany, a follicle is a dry

unilocular A locule (plural locules) or loculus (plural loculi) (meaning "little place" in Latin) is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism (animal, plant, or fungus). In angiosperms (flowering plants), the term ''locule'' usu ...

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

formed from one

carpel Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...

, containing two or more seeds. It is usually defined as

dehiscing Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that o ...

by a suture in order to release seeds, for example in ''

Consolida ''Consolida'' is a genus of about 40 species of annual flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to western Europe, the Mediterranean and Asia. Phylogenetic studies show that ''Consolida'' is actually an annual clade nested within the ...

'' (some of the larkspurs),

peony The peony or paeony is a flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'' , the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae . Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguished, ...

and

milkweed ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...

(''Asclepias''). Some difficult cases exist however, so that the term indehiscent follicle is sometimes used, for example with the genus ''

Filipendula ''Filipendula'' is a genus of 12 species of perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Well-known species include meadowsweet ('' Filipendula ulmaria'') and dropwort ...

'', which has indehiscent fruits that could be considered intermediate between a (dehiscent) follicle and an (indehiscent)

achene An achene (; ), also sometimes called akene and occasionally achenium or achenocarp, is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not ope ...

. An

aggregate fruit A raspberry fruit (shown with a raspberry beetle larva) is an aggregate fruit, an aggregate of drupe">raspberry_beetle.html" ;"title="raspberry fruit (shown with a raspberry beetle">raspberry fruit (shown with a raspberry beetle larva) is an aggre ...

that consists of follicles may be called a follicetum. Examples include

hellebore Commonly known as hellebores (), the Eurasian genus ''Helleborus'' consists of approximately 20 species of herbaceous or evergreen perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, within which it gave its name to the tribe of Helleboreae. ...

aconite Aconite may refer to: *'' Aconitum'', a plant genus containing the monkshoods *Aconitine Aconitine is an alkaloid toxin produced by various plant species belonging to the genus ''Aconitum'' (family Ranunculaceae), known also commonly by the na ...

, ''

Delphinium ''Delphinium'' is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family (biology), family Ranunculaceae, native plant, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. Th ...

'', ''

Aquilegia ''Aquilegia'' (common names: granny's bonnet, columbine) is a genus of about 60–70 species of perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere, known for the spurred petals Pu ...

'' or the family

Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the stonecrop family or the orpine family, are a diverse family of dicotyledon flowering plants characterized by succulent leaves and a unique form of photosynthesis, known as Crass ...

, where several follicles occur in a whorl on a shortened receptacle, or ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

'', which has many follicles arranged in a spiral on an elongated receptacle. The follicles of some species dehisce by the ventral suture (as in ''

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range i ...

''), or by the dorsal suture (as in ''Magnolia'').Kapil, R. N. and N. N. Bhandari (1964
Morphology and embryology of ''Magnolia''
. Proc. nat. Inst. Sci. India 30, 245-262. File:Follicles of Helleborus foetidus.JPG, Follicles from ''

Helleborus foetidus ''Helleborus foetidus'', known variously as stinking hellebore , dungwort, setterwort and bear's foot, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to the mountainous regions of Central and Southern Europe and Asi ...

'' File:Banksia integrifolia and marginata cones.jpg, Only some flowers in a ''

'' inflorescence mature into follicles embedded in the "cone" File:Stenocarpus sinuatus, vrugte, Manie van der Schijff BT.jpg, Follicles of ''

Stenocarpus sinuatus ''Stenocarpus sinuatus'', known as the firewheel tree, is an Australian rainforest tree in the family Proteaceae. The range of natural distribution is in various rainforest types from the Nambucca River (30° S) in New South Wales to the Ath ...

'' will release papery brown seeds

References

External links

* Fruit morphology {{botany-stub