an achene

Current definition: 
a small dry thin=walled fruit, not splitting when ripe, and containing a single seed (e.g. Compositae, Clematis)
Excluding: 
SSA: a small dry fruit, not splitting when ripe, formed from a superior ovary of 1 carpel and containing a single seed, with the seed coat free from the fruit wall, as in Clematis (Ranunculaceae)
Feature ID: 
290
Pro parte: 
FPW: a small, dry, single-seeded fruit that does not split open CGBT: a small, dry, 1-seeded, indehiscent fruit, strictly of 1 carpel, as in the genera Ranunculus and Rosa.
Feature Status: 
Core
Similar concepts: 
IPT: An achene is a 1-seeded indehiscent fruit in which the pericarp (outer layer) is firmly adnate to the seed. Achenes are the fruit-type encountered in the aster family, and here there are many modifications in form and appearance of taxonomic value. The achene may be attenuated into a beak which, in lettuce and dandelion, is terminated by a whorl of plumes; it may be winged and have terminal awns in the form of bristles, spines, or be terminated by a double pappus. The achene surface may be smooth, or variously ribbed, glandular, echinate, or papillate.

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Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith