What Is a Schizocarp? Fruits That Split Into Seed Parts
A schizocarp is a dry fruit that splits at maturity into one seeded parts. The Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia define it as a dry compound fruit that divides into two or more mostly indehiscent, one seeded segments that disperse one by one.
The short answer
A schizocarp is a dry fruit built from two or more joined carpels. When ripe, it breaks apart into separate one seeded pieces called mericarps. Carrot family plants make schizocarps, and maple keys show the same pattern. Each dill seed you collect is really half a fruit.
What is a schizocarp?
The word comes from Greek words meaning split fruit, according to the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia. At maturity, each carpel in a compound ovary separates into a segment that usually stays closed around its seed. NC State Extension explains that dry fruits are either dehiscent and open when ripe or indehiscent and stay closed. A schizocarp sits between the two. The fruit splits, but each piece stays shut. See cannabis seed anatomy for how seed parts are named.
What is a mericarp?
A mericarp is one of the carpels of a schizocarp. In the carrot family, the Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia describe two mericarps, each one seeded and usually five ribbed, joined face to face. At maturity they separate and hang from the tip of a forked central axis. Planting one means sowing a whole fruit segment, as in how to germinate cannabis seeds.
Which garden plants make schizocarps?
The carrot family is the classic example and includes dill, carrot, parsley, celery and fennel. NC State Extension lists dill fruit as a schizocarp. The geranium family makes long beaked schizocarps with five mericarps, and hollyhocks make a ring of 15 to 40 mericarps. Maples form double samaras that separate into single winged halves, which the Flora of Virginia describes with schizocarp traits. Leaf shapes help tell some of these plants apart, as in cannabis leaf anatomy.
Schizocarp examples
| Plant group | Mericarps | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Carrot family | 2, ribbed | MGNV glossary |
| Dill | 2, oval and ridged | NC State |
| Geranium family | 5, beaked | MGNV glossary |
| Hollyhock | 15 to 40 in a ring | MGNV glossary |
| Maple | 2 winged halves | MGNV glossary |
Sources: Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia, NC State Extension.
How to: step by step
- Let a dill or carrot flower head go to seed.
- Wait until the seeds turn brown.
- Pick one fruit from the head.
- Look for the line where it splits.
- Press gently to part the two halves.
- Count the ribs on each mericarp.
Troubleshooting
Fruit won’t split: not ripe. Wait until it dries fully.
Only one seed found: halves already dropped. Check the stem tip.
Can’t see ribs: small fruit. Use a hand lens.
Kind Seed Co shares more plant science notes on the blog.
Sources
- Schizocarp, mericarp (glossary), Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia (Virginia Cooperative Extension volunteers)
- Anethum graveolens (dill), NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
- Extension Gardener Handbook, chapter 3: Botany, NC State Extension
- Types of fruit (table), Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia (Virginia Cooperative Extension volunteers)
FAQ
Are dill seeds really fruits?
Yes. NC State Extension lists the dill fruit type as a schizocarp, oval and ridged, turning from green to dark brown. Each seed you harvest is one half of that fruit, a mericarp.
What is a maple key?
It is the winged fruit of a maple. Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia note the Flora of Virginia calls maple fruits double samaras that form as a pair and separate, each half usually holding one seed. They have schizocarp traits.
Do all carrot family plants make schizocarps?
Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia say the fruit of the Apiaceae, the celery, carrot or parsley family, is a schizocarp with two one seeded mericarps. That applies to the family as a group.
How is a schizocarp different from a capsule?
The Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia fruit table lists a schizocarp as mostly indehiscent and breaking into one seeded segments. A capsule is a dehiscent fruit that splits open to release its seeds.
Do geraniums make schizocarps?
Yes. Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia say the geranium family has long beaked schizocarps with five one seeded mericarps that separate at maturity, each taking a strip from the style.
