Multiple fruit

A multiple fruit is a collective fruiting structure derived from more than one flower in an inflorescence. The developing individual fruits and associated parts form one apparent unit. A pineapple makes the idea tangible: several floral ovaries contribute to the structure commonly handled as one fruit.^[ref]

The crucial developmental count is the number of original flowers. An aggregate fruit derives from several separate carpels of one flower; a multiple fruit involves several flowers. A large number of seeds alone establishes neither category. One ovary can contain many ovules, and a fruiting structure can develop without mature seeds.^[ref]

Imagine marking three adjacent flowers in an inflorescence and tracing their ovaries through development. If their fruiting products join a single apparent mass, the labels still record three floral origins. Cutting the mature mass into three pieces does not reverse that history: classification follows development rather than serving size.