Acrosarco

Acrosarco

The acrosarco is a simple fruit; it is indehiscent and has the undifferentiated pericarp (ie the wood endocarp is missing); this fruit is surrounded by a fleshy and increasing esocarp which originates from the perianth or from the receptacle.
The acrosarch is in all respects a sort of inferior ovary berry.

Typical acrosarch is the fruit of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.).
The fruit of the prickly pear is a fleshy, unilocular berry, with numerous seeds (polispermica), whose weight can vary from 150 to 400 g. It derives from the inferior ovary adherent to the flower receptacle and some authors consider it a false aril.