Hesperidium

Several kind of citrus, the most common hesperidium, cut open and ready to eat.

A hesperidium (plural hesperidia) is a modified berry with a tough, leathery rind.

The peel contains volatile oil glands in pits. The fleshy interior is composed of separate sections, called carpels, filled with fluid-filled vesicles that are actually specialized hair cells.

The outer ovary wall becomes the thick spongy layer of the rind, while the inner ovary wall becomes very juicy with several seeds.

Oranges and other citrus fruits are common examples in cultivation.

Unlike most other berries, the rind of cultivated hesperidia is generally not eaten with the fruit because it is tough and bitter. A common exception is the kumquat, which is consumed entirely.

The outermost, pigmented layer of rind contains essential oils and is known as the flavedo. When scraped off and used as a culinary ingredient it is called zest. A confection called succade can also be produced by candying the inner rind (known as pith or albedo) of the citron or lemon.

Linnaeus gave the name Hesperideæ to an order containing the genus Citrus, in allusion to the golden apples of the Hesperides.

References

Bailey, L. H.; Bailey, E. Z. (1976). Hortus (Third ed.). New York: Macmillan. p. 275. ISBN 0-02-505470-8.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hesperidium.

The dictionary definition of hesperidium at Wiktionary

Types of fruits

Types of fruits	Achene Berry (modified berries: Hesperidium Pepo) Capsule Caryopsis Drupe Follicle Legume Loment Nut Pome Samara Schizocarp Silique Syconium

Categories of fruits	Accessory fruit Simple fruit Compound fruit Aggregate fruit Multiple fruit Dehiscent fruit

Function	Diaspore Drift fruit

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/11/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Hesperidium

See also

References

External links