An accessory fruit is a mature fruit structure to which tissue outside the ovary contributes, often forming much of the flesh. The name concerns developmental origin. An apple illustrates one arrangement: the central core derives from the ovary, while the surrounding hypanthium contributes much of the edible tissue.[ref]
Global gene expression analysis of apple fruit development from the floral bud to ripe fruit by Bart J. Janssen and others. Background, core/ovary and cortex/hypanthium
A strawberry illustrates another arrangement. Its flesh is an enlarged receptacle, and the small units on the surface are individual achenes. Cutting through one of these units and separately through the flesh distinguishes the seed, the wall of its individual fruit, and the common supporting tissue.[ref]
Genome-scale transcriptomic insights into early-stage fruit development in woodland strawberry Fragaria vesca by Chunying Kang and others. Abstract; receptacle flesh and numerous dry surface achenes
Accessory fruit and aggregate fruit describe different properties: the former concerns contributions from non-ovarian tissue, while the latter concerns fruits developing from several separate carpels of one flower. Both descriptions apply to the strawberry arrangement. In Fragaria vesca, dissecting tissues and profiling gene expression across developmental stages allowed researchers to investigate how these distinct parts grow together.[ref]
Genome-scale transcriptomic insights into early-stage fruit development in woodland strawberry Fragaria vesca by Chunying Kang and others. Abstract and study design; five tissue types and five developmental stages
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