 Indehiscent fruit

An indehiscent fruit remains closed at maturity instead of splitting open in a regular way to release its seeds. The category describes the opening behaviour of the fruit, rather than the number of seeds or the origin of its floral tissues.^[ref]

An achene and a caryopsis are illuminating examples. Both remain closed, but their internal construction differs: in an achene, the seed is free from the pericarp; in a caryopsis, the pericarp and seed coat are fused. Thus knowing that a fruit is indehiscent does not identify its precise fruit type.^[ref]

Closed does not mean permanently sealed against every later event. A fruit may eventually decay or be broken by an animal. The distinction from a dehiscent fruit concerns its normal opening at maturity, not whether a person can cut it open or its seed can eventually emerge during germination.