[droop] 
| any fruit, as a peach, cherry, plum, etc., consisting of an outer skin, a usually pulpy and succulent middle layer, and a hard and woody inner shell usually enclosing a single seed. |
| drupe (drōōp) n. A fleshy fruit, such as a peach, plum, or cherry, usually having a single hard stone that encloses a seed. Also called stone fruit. [Latin drūpa, druppa, overripe olive, from Greek druppā, olive, possibly alteration of drupepēs, ripened on the tree : drūs, dru-, tree; see deru- in Indo-European roots + peptein, pep-, to ripen; see pekw- in Indo-European roots.] |
drupe (dr p) Pronunciation Key
A simple fruit derived from a single carpel. A drupe usually contains a single seed enclosed by a hardened endocarp, which often adheres closely to the seed within. In peaches, plums, cherries, and olives, a fleshy edible mesocarp surrounds the endocarp (the pit or stone). In the coconut, a fibrous mesocarp (the husk) surrounds the endocarp (the shell), while the white edible portion is the endosperm. Compare berry, pome. See more at simple fruit. |