Fwd: [Po-dev] Fwd: Terminology of Apple Fruit Tissues

[Chih-Wei Tung]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Peter Stevens <peter.stevens at mobot.org>
> Date: September 7, 2007 1:18:19 PM EDT
> To: Chih-Wei Tung <cwt6 at cornell.edu>
> Subject: Re: [Po-dev] Fwd: Terminology of Apple Fruit Tissues
>
> OK, I followed you until this paragraph:
>
> So, the fruit "cortex" is NOT the same as  "flesh" or "mesocarp,"  
> but is a region that makes up the flesh.  Pericarp, mesocarp,  
> endocarp, and exocarp are simple topographic, descriptive terms  
> that reference the tissue by its position within the fruit.  Cortex  
> thus is a component of the mesocarp, while the skin is described as  
> the exocarp by some authors.
>
> If the apple fruit is the product of an inferior ovary, whatever  
> the mechanism by which the ovary became inferior (i.e. axial or  
> appendicular), the skin is surely not  the exocarp, which is a term  
> applied to the fruit proper, and similarly the apple cortex is not  
> a component of the mesocarp (if anything, it would be the other way  
> around), and the meso- exo- and endocarps are a tad more than  
> descriptive terms (what terms are not?), but refer specifically to  
> fruits proper, i.e. a carpel/s at the time of dispersal of the seed.
>
> P.
>
>
> On Sep 7, 2007, at 10:43 AM, Chih-Wei Tung wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>>> From: "Martin C. Goffinet" <mcg2 at nysaes.cornell.edu>
>>> Date: September 6, 2007 4:49:37 PM EDT
>>> To: cwt6 at cornell.edu
>>> Cc: skb3 at nysaes.cornell.edu
>>> Subject: Terminology of Apple Fruit Tissues
>>>
>>> To Chih-Wei Tung:
>>>
>>> Because I am a plant anatomist with some experience in apple  
>>> fruit structure and development, Professor Susan Brown has  
>>> forwarded your email to me concerning the terminology of apple  
>>> fruit tissues.  Below and in the attached scan of a few drawings  
>>> from a 1942 paper, I will try to give you my perspective on this  
>>> issue.
>>>
>>> The "fruit cortex" of apple is specifically the tissue between  
>>> the skin and the 10 large vascular bundles as seen in an  
>>> equatorial cross section of the fruit.  The "pith" is that tissue  
>>> inside these 10 bundles but outside the horseshoe-shaped region  
>>> (the carpellary tissue) that surrounds each seed locule within  
>>> the fruit.  We eat both the cortex and pith tissues and consider  
>>> them to make up the flesh in mature fruit.  In general, the core  
>>> is the part of the fruit not eaten.  This typically contains the  
>>> seeds, surrounding leathery pericarp (some would say endocarp),  
>>> and any adherent softer tissue that may be considered pericarp,  
>>> as interpreted by those who claim that the pome fruit is a  
>>> receptacle overarching and embedding five individual carpels.   
>>> This is the view taken by the authors of the information in the  
>>> attached drawings, a view that provides much of the terminology  
>>> we most use today in describing apple anatomy.  I use this  
>>> terminology, although I am not a disciple of this school of  
>>> thought, but it does provide a common language for descriptive  
>>> purposes.  The two schools of thought of this, for apple, are  
>>> presented in the review of Charlotte Pratt (C.Pratt. 1988. Apple  
>>> Flower and Fruit: Morphology and Anatomy.  Horticultural Reviews  
>>> 10: 273-308.).
>>>
>>> So, the fruit "cortex" is NOT the same as  "flesh" or "mesocarp,"  
>>> but is a region that makes up the flesh.  Pericarp, mesocarp,  
>>> endocarp, and exocarp are simple topographic, descriptive terms  
>>> that reference the tissue by its position within the fruit.   
>>> Cortex thus is a component of the mesocarp, while the skin is  
>>> described as the exocarp by some authors.
>>>
>>> The placenta is a region or zone along each carpel that erupts  
>>> into the ovules, typically where (during floral development) the  
>>> two longitudinal margins of each carpel's ovarian region fold and  
>>> converge upon each other.  In the case of apple, each of the two  
>>> placental regions of each carpel will develop one ovule that,  
>>> later on, will develop into a mature seed.   Therefore, the  
>>> description of the fruit placenta as a "more or less localized  
>>> region within a fruit to  which seeds are attached" is correct;  
>>> the placenta cannot be synonymous with fruit core.  The apple  
>>> fruit has one fruit core but 10 enfolded carpel margins each with  
>>> a placental region.
>>>
>>> I don't know if this helps or confuses you even more.  The  
>>> interpretation of the pome fruit remains a complicated issue and  
>>> by no means will there be agreement any time soon.
>>>
>>> Sincerely yours,
>>>
>>> Martin Goffinet
>>> Senior Research Associate
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> Martin C. Goffinet, Ph.D.		          Ph: 315-787-2392
>>> Cornell University		          Fax: 315-787-2216
>>> Department of Horticultural Sciences	          Web: http:// 
>>> www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hort/faculty/goffinet/
>>> New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
>>> 630 W. North Street
>>> Geneva, NY 14456
>> <AppleTissue.jpg>
>>
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