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In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Pome fruits consist of a central "core" containing multiple small seeds, which is enveloped by a tough membrane and surrounded by an edible layer of flesh.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Pome fruit trees are deciduous, and undergo a dormant winter period that requires cold temperatures to break dormancy in spring.<ref name=":0" /> Well-known pomes include the apple, pear, and quince.<ref name=":0" />
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EtymologyEdit
The word pome entered English in the late 14th century, and referred to an apple or an apple-shaped object. It derived from the Old French word for "apple": {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (12th century; modern French is {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), which in turn derived from the Late Latin or Vulgar Latin word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} "apple", originally the plural of Latin Template:Wikt-lang "fruit", later "apple".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
MorphologyEdit
A pome is an accessory fruit composed of one or more carpels surrounded by accessory tissue. The accessory tissue is interpreted by some specialists as an extension of the receptacle and is then referred to as "fruit cortex",<ref name=Esau>Esau, K. 1977. Anatomy of seed plants. John Wiley and Sons, New York.</ref> and by others as a fused hypanthium (floral cup).<ref name=Esau/> It is the most edible part of this fruit.
The carpels of a pome are fused within the "core".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Although the epicarp, mesocarp, and endocarp of some other fruit types look very much like the skin, flesh, and core respectively of a pome, they are parts of the carpel (see above diagram). The epicarp and mesocarp of a pome may be fleshy and difficult to distinguish from one another and from the hypanthial tissue. The endocarp forms a leathery or stony case around the seed, and corresponds to what is commonly called the core.Template:Citation needed
Template:Anchor A pome-type fruit with a stony rather than a leathery endocarp may be called a polypyrenous drupe.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The shriveled remains of the sepals, style and stamens can sometimes be seen at the end of a pome opposite the stem, and the ovary is therefore often described as inferior in these flowers.Template:Citation needed
ExamplesEdit
The best-known example of a pome is the apple. Other examples of plants that produce fruit classified as a pome are Cotoneaster, Crataegus (hawthorn and mayhaw), medlar, pear, Pyracantha, quince, rowan, loquat, toyon, and whitebeam.Template:Citation needed
Some pomes may have a mealy texture (e.g., some apples); others (e.g., Amelanchier, Aronia) are berry-like with juicy flesh and a core that is not very noticeable.Template:Citation needed