Question

Caryopsis fruit is the characteristic of which family
A. Malvaceae
B. Fabaceae
C. Asteraceae
D. Poaceae

Answer 1

Hint: It is the family that is large and is ubiquitous in nature belonging to the flowering plants under monocotyledonous grasses.

Complete answer
Caryopsis is a dry one-seeded fruit formed from a single carpel (unicarpellate), where the ovary wall is united with the seed coat and is fused into a single unit. It does not open at the time of maturity (indehiscent). It is a characteristic of the family Poaceae.

Additional information
- Poaceae is also known as Gramineae which includes cereal grasses, bamboos, and cultivated species of lawns.
- Poaceae is the fifth-largest plant family with around 780 genera and around 12,000 species.
- They are the economically most important family as they provide staple food for humans as well as animals.
- Fruits are the seed-bearing structure of the flowering plants which is formed from the ovary after flowering.
- Caryopsis is a type of fruit where the pericarp is fused with the thin seed coat.
- In the case of corn, each kernel is fused with the seed coat. Thus it is called a caryopsis.
So, the correct answer is ‘Poaceae’.

Note: Fruits are the means of disseminating seeds in angiosperms. The outer layer of the fruit is the pericarp which is formed from the ovary and the seeds surrounding it. This pericarp is differentiated into three layers: epicarp (outer), mesocarp (middle), and endocarp (inner) which develops the fruit and provides nutrition to them.