 Pericarp

The pericarp is the wall of a fruit, derived from the wall of the ovary. Its regions can be distinguished as outer exocarp, middle mesocarp and inner endocarp.^[ref]

These regions need not have the same texture: in a drupe, such as a peach, the fleshy middle surrounds a hard inner stone. The stone is hardened pericarp; the seed lies inside it. In a caryopsis, by contrast, the pericarp is closely fused to the seed coat. These examples explain why a fruit's protective covering should be identified by its developmental origin as well as its appearance.