Pome

Not to be confused with Pomona.

An apple is a pome fruit. The parts of the fruit are labelled

In botany, a pome (after the Latin word for fruit: pōmum) is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Pome's origin of the word came from the Middle English (fruit), from Anglo-French pume, pomme (apple, fruit) and, ultimately from Late Latin pomum. First use, 15th century.

Morphology

A pome is an accessory fruit composed of one or more carpels surrounded by accessory tissue. The accessory tissue is interpreted by some specialists as an extension of the receptacle and is then referred to as "fruit cortex", and by others as a fused hypanthium or "torus"; it is the most edible part of this fruit.

The carpels of a pome are fused within the "core". Although the epicarp, mesocarp, and endocarp of some other fruit types look very much like the skin, flesh, and core respectively of a pome, they are parts of the carpel (see diagram). The epicarp and mesocarp of a pome may be fleshy and difficult to distinguish from one another and from the hypanthial tissue. The endocarp forms a leathery or stony case around the seed, and corresponds to what is commonly called the core. Pome-type fruit with stony rather than leathery endocarp may be called a polypyrenous drupe. The shriveled remains of the sepals, style and stamens can sometimes be seen at the end of a pome opposite the stem, and the ovary is therefore often described as inferior in these flowers.

Examples

Pomes of common medlar, Mespilus germanica

The best-known example of a pome is the apple. Other examples of plants that produce fruit classified as a pome are Cotoneaster, Crataegus, loquat, medlar, pear, Pyracantha, toyon, quince, rowan, and whitebeam.

Some pomes may have a mealy texture (e.g., some apples); others (e.g., Amelanchier, Aronia) are berry-like with juicy flesh and a core that is not very noticeable.

See also

• Nut (fruit)