achene
or a·kene
any small, dry, hard, one-seeded, indehiscent fruit.
Origin of achene
1Other words from achene
- a·che·ni·al [ey-kee-nee-uhl, uh-kee-], /eɪˈki ni əl, əˈki-/, adjective
Words Nearby achene
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use achene in a sentence
Fruit a circumscissile 2-celled capsule, with one or more peltate seeds in each cell, or an achene.
Ovary 1-celled with a suspended ovule, becoming an achene; calyx none; aquatic herbs, with finely dissected whorled leaves.
achene (commonly solitary) enclosed in the 4-angled dry and thickish closed calyx-tube.
Ovary with a single cell and ovule, tipped with a long laterally stigmatic style, maturing as an achene.
achene obtusely triangular, partly 3-celled, enclosed in the indurated calyx.
British Dictionary definitions for achene
akene
/ (əˈkiːn) /
a dry one-seeded indehiscent fruit with the seed distinct from the fruit wall. It may be smooth, as in the buttercup, or feathery, as in clematis
Origin of achene
1Derived forms of achene
- achenial or akenial, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for achene
A small, dry, one-seeded fruit in which the seed sits free inside the hollow fruit, attached only by the stem of the ovule. Achenes are indehiscent (they do not split open when ripe). The fruits of the sunflower and elm are achenes.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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