thumb|250px|right|A line art drawing of a pyxidium
In botany, a capsule is a type of simple, dry or (rarely) fleshy, fruit which splits open on maturity. They are produced by many species of flowering plants. A schizocarp is derived from a compound ovary with two or more locules which then separate radially as one of the above types, such as a schizocarp of follicles, as in Asclepias (Asclepiadoideae) (see illustration).
A mericarp is a portion of the fruit that separates from the ovary to form a distinct locule unit which encloses the seed, usually-nut-like, as in Apiaceae in which the mericarps are joined by a stalk (carpophore). Thus a schizocarp of mericarps is a structure in which the carpels of a single ovary split to form mericarps. A schizocarp of nutlets is derived from a carpel that becomes lobed, and the lobes become nutlets that split apart. Examples include Boraginaceae and most Lamiaceae, where the styles are attached between the ovary lobes.
Bibliography
- Encyclopædia Britannica online
- The seed site