mericarp Bot.
(ˈmɛrɪkɑːp)
[a. F. méricarpe, irreg. f. Gr. µέρος part + καρπός fruit.]
A portion of a fruit which splits away as a perfect fruit; esp. each of the two one-seeded carpels which together constitute the fruit (or cremocarp) in umbelliferous plants.
| 1832 Lindley Introd. Bot. 179 M. De Candolle calls the half of the fruit of Umbelliferæ mericarp. 1864 Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 176 The mericarps are popularly called ‘seeds’, as Caraway-seeds, &c. 1875 Bennett & Dyer Sachs' Bot. 841 The fruit of Erodium gruinum and other Geraniaceæ splits up into five mericarps. 1887 Garnsey & Balfour tr. Goebel's Classif. & Morphol. Plants 427 Two or more parts each containing a seed, and appearing to be a separate fruit; each of these may be called a mericarp or partial fruit, and the whole is a schizocarp. |