Question

Which one of the following is a dry indehiscent fruit?
A. Caryopsis
B. Pod
C. Follicle
D. Lomentum

Answer 1

Hint: The Indehiscent fruit does not expand in a pre-defined way at maturity, but depends on predation or decay to discharge the seeds. Dry fruits could be split into all those of which the seeds are enclosed in a sort of seed pod that expands to discharge the seeds and those in which no seed pod opens.

Complete answer:
The containers wherein the plant places its seeds are fruits. When we think about them, they are not just berries, but they have several different kinds. Some are fleshy with pieces that we want to consume, some are dry, some are strong and are meant to be dispersed by dropping and rolling away from the parent plant, some have wings or fuzzy tails to allow them to be distributed by the wind.
- Caryopsis is a kind of simple dry fruit which is indehiscent (not opening until maturity) but has one seed or monocarpellary. The pericarp is merged with the thin seed coat in a caryopsis, and the fruit wall or seed are merged intimately into a single product.
- A fruit which dehisces into two different valves, which are more commonly dry but somewhat woody, down both sides. Pods are also the Leguminosae's characteristic seed. Thus, option B is not the correct option.
- A follicle is a single dry fruit composed of two or three seeds produced by one carpel. To distribute seeds, it is traditionally defined with dehiscing by a suture. Thus, option C is not the correct option.
- A lomentum is a form of indehiscent legume fruit which breaks apart when there are constrictions among segments, such that one seed is contained in each segment. It's a schizocarp of a kind. Thus, option D is not the correct option.

Hence, the correct answer is option (A).

Note: Dry fruits that when mature, may not open to release their seeds. Many of these categories are fruits with one seed. Achene is a single-seeded dry, indehiscent fruit that is the one seed, at a point, is connected to the fruit wall.
Caryopsis- is similar to achene, only difference is that the pericarp and testa are closely related like a grain. This is characteristic of the future of the Gramineae family. Example - wheat, corn, etc.