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Caryopsis

In botany, a caryopsis (plural caryopses) is a type of simple dry fruit—one that is

monocarpellate (formed from a single carpel) and indehiscent (not opening at maturity) [1]
and resembles an achene, except that in a caryopsis the pericarp is fused with the thin seed
coat.

An assortment of different caryopses

Wheat spikelet with the three anthers sticking out

Caryopsis cross-section

The caryopsis is popularly called a grain and is the fruit typical of the family Poaceae (or
Gramineae), which includes wheat, rice, and corn.[2]

The term grain is also used in a more general sense as synonymous with cereal (as in "cereal
grains", which include some non-Poaceae). Considering that the fruit wall and the seed are
intimately fused into a single unit, and the caryopsis or grain is a dry fruit, little concern is
given to technically separating the terms fruit and seed in these plant structures. In many
grains, the "hulls" to be separated before processing are flower bracts.

Etymology

The name "caryopsis" is derived from the Greek words karyon and -opsis, meaning "nut" and
"having the appearance of", respectively. The term was first used by Achille Richard to
refer to the dry, monospermic, indehiscent fruit commonly found in grasses.[3]

This definition of fruit for the Gramineae family has persisted to the modern day, but some
botanists have challenged the idea that the dry caryopsis is a defining characteristic of
the family. The other forms of fruit proposed to be borne by grasses include achenes,[4]
utricles,[4] berries,[5] and nuts.[6] However, others have suggested that these differing
fruit structures are representative of caryopsis diversity rather than of entirely
different structures.[7] This diverse form of the caryopsis would include the follicle-like
form of Crypsis and Eleusine where a free pericarp adjoins the seeds which are extruded
when moistened (as in an achene or utricle), the berry-like form found in some bamboo
genera including Dinochloa and Olmeca where the pericarp is more thick and fleshy, and the
nut-like form found in Dendrocalamus and Schizostachyum. By this definition, the caryopsis
is truly the only fruit type found in the Gramineae. The types of caryopsis are often
distinguished by the terms "modified caryopsis", referring to caryopses with a pericarp not
wholly adnate to the seed coat, and "true caryopsis", referring to those with a pericarp
totally adherent to the seed coat.[8]

References

1. "Caryopsis" (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caryopsis) . Merriam Webster.

Retrieved 31 August 2014.

2. "caryopsis" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/97667/caryopsis) . Encyclopædia

Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 31 August 2014.

3. Richard, Achille (1811). "Analyse botanique des embryons endorhizes ou monocotyledones, et

particulierement de celui des Graminees" (https://www.worldcat.org/title/analyse-botanique-des-
 embryons-endorhizes-ou-monocotyledones-et-particulierement-de-celui-des-graminees-suivie-d
un-examen-critique-de-quelques-memoires-anatomico-physiologico-botaniques-de-m-mirbel/oclc/
15141724) .

4. Jacques-Felix, Henri (1962). "Les graminees (Poaceae) d'Afrique tropicale. 1. Generalites,

classification, description des genres" (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/369161/) . IRAT.

5. Stapf, Otto (1904). "On the Fruit of Melocanna bambusoides, Trin., an Endospermless, Viviparous
Genus of Bambuseae" (https://academic.oup.com/transactionslinneanbot/article-abstract/6/9/401/24
10680) . Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. Oxford University Press. 6 (9): 401–425.

6. Bews, John William (1929). The world's grasses: their differentiation, distribution economics and
ecology. London (United Kingdom) Longmans, Green and Co.

7. Tsvelev, N.N. (1976). "Zlaki SSSR [Cereals of the USSR]". Science, Leningrad.

8. Brandenburg, D.M. (1985). A Survey of Modified Caryopses in the Gramineae. Vol. 72. American
Journal of Botany. p. 943.

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Last edited 12 months ago by Tom.Reding