Editing Aril (section)

{{Short description|Specialized outgrowth that covers a seed}}
{{for multi|the Etruscan deity|Atlas (mythology)#Other|the Malaysian entertainer|Aril (entertainer)}}
{{distinguish|text=[[aryl]], a type of organic chemical radical}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2008}}

[[File:Mace of nutmeg - ml-Jathi.jpg|thumb|right|An aril that surrounds the [[nutmeg seed]] is used as a [[spice]] called [[mace (spice)|mace]]]]
[[File:ARS Litchi chinensis.jpg|thumb|right|The edible white aril of ''[[Litchi chinensis]]'' is sometimes called an arillode or false aril. It grows partly from the [[Ovule|funiculus]] and partly from the [[integument]] of the seed.<ref>{{citation |author1=Banerji, I. |author2=Chaudhuri, K.L. |year=1944 |title=A contribution to the life history of ''Litchi chinensis'' Sonn. |journal=Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section B |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=19–27|doi=10.1007/BF03049502 |s2cid=82241185 }}</ref>]]

An '''aril''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|r|ɪ|l}}), also called '''arillus''', is a specialized outgrowth from a [[seed]] that partly or completely covers the seed. An '''arillode''', or '''false aril''', is sometimes distinguished: whereas an aril grows from the attachment point of the seed to the [[ovary (botany)|ovary]] (from the [[Ovule|funiculus]] or ''[[Hilum (biology)|hilum]]''), an arillode forms from a different point on the seed coat.<ref>{{citation |author1=Beentje, H. |author2=Williamson, J. |year=2010 |title=The Kew Plant Glossary: an Illustrated Dictionary of Plant Terms |publisher=Kew Publishing |location=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]]}}</ref> The term "aril" is sometimes applied to any fleshy appendage of the seed in [[flowering plant]]s, such as the [[mace (spice)|mace]] of the [[nutmeg]] seed.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Endress, P.K. |year=1973 |title=Arils And Aril-Like Structures In Woody Ranales |journal=[[New Phytologist]] |volume=72 |issue=5 |pages=1159–1171 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.1973.tb02092.x|doi-access=free |bibcode=1973NewPh..72.1159E }}</ref> Arils and arillodes are often edible enticements that encourage animals to transport the seed, thereby assisting in seed dispersal.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvEOb0HKyoAC&q=aril+&pg=PA218|title=Fruit and Seed Production|isbn=9780521373500|last1=Marshall|first1=C.|date=1992-04-30|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref> '''Pseudarils''' are aril-like structures commonly found on the [[Pyrena|pyrenes]] of [[Burseraceae]] species that develop from the [[mesocarp]] of the ovary.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1093/aobpla/pls027| pmid = 23115709| title = The fruit of Bursera: Structure, maturation and parthenocarpy| journal = [[AoB Plants]]| volume = 2012| pages = pls027| year = 2012| last1 = Ramos-Ordonez | first1 = M. F.| last2 = Arizmendi | first2 = M. D. C. | last3 = Marquez-Guzman | first3 = J.| pmc = 3484315}}</ref> The fleshy, edible pericarp splits neatly in two halves, then falling away or being eaten to reveal a brightly coloured pseudaril around the black seed.

The aril may create a [[fruit]]-like structure, called (among other names) a ''[[accessory fruit|false fruit]]''. False fruit are found in numerous [[Angiosperm]] taxa. The edible false fruit of the [[longan]], [[lychee]] and [[ackee]] fruits are highly developed arils surrounding the seed rather than a [[pericarp]] layer. Such arils are also found in a few species of [[gymnosperm]]s, notably the [[Taxus|yews]] and related [[Pinophyta|conifers]] such as the [[Prumnopitys andina|lleuque]] and the [[Dacrycarpus dacrydioides|kahikatea]]. Instead of the [[wood]]y [[Conifer cone|cone]] typical of most gymnosperms, the reproductive structure of the yew consists of a single seed that becomes surrounded by a fleshy, cup-like covering. This covering is derived from a highly modified cone scale.