![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220129010635im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Pastinaca_sativa_subsp._sativa_fruits%2C_pastinaak_vruchten_%283%29.jpg/220px-Pastinaca_sativa_subsp._sativa_fruits%2C_pastinaak_vruchten_%283%29.jpg)
The indehiscent (remaining closed) schizocarp of the parsnip (Pastinaca sativa), like that of the carrot, will split into two parts.
![](https://web.archive.org/web/20220129010635im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/Muskuskaasjeskruid_vrucht.jpg/220px-Muskuskaasjeskruid_vrucht.jpg)
The indehiscent schizocarp of musk mallow Malva moschata will later split into segments called mericarps.
A schizocarp /ˈskɪzəkɑːrp/ is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps.
There are different definitions:
- Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate.[1]
- Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the mericarps of Abutilon have two or more seeds[2]) and each mericarp can be either:
- Indehiscent (remaining closed), such as in the carrot and other Umbelliferae or in members of the genus Malva, or
- Dehiscent (splitting open to release the seed), for example members of the genus Geranium. This is similar to what happens with a capsule, but with an extra stage. (In Abutilon, the mericarp is sometimes only partially dehiscent and does not release the seed.)
- Any fruit that separates into indehiscent one-seeded segments,[3] such as a loment, Malva, Malvastrum, and Sida.
References[edit]
- ^ "Merriam-Webster Dictionary".
- ^ Western New Mexico University Department of Natural Sciences
- ^ Bell, A.D. (1997). Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press.