Plant Anatomy Laboratory Department of Botany, University of Delhi, Delhi-110 007.
The young ovary of Mimusops hexandra is multi-locular with axile placen-tation. There is a single ovule in each locule. The growth of the ovary follows a simple, sigmoid pattern, the increase in length exceeds that in width— producing an elongated fruit. In the earlier stages, the fruit grows by cell division mostly in the innermost layers of the mesocarp. This is followed by cell size increase which continues till maturity and the differentiation of the tissues like vascular bundles, laticifers, tanniniferous cells, crystalliferous cells and the sclereids occurs. The endocarp is rather indistinct. The seed is endospermic, dicotyledonous with a stony seed coat and is eccentrically placed in the fruit. Each fruit has a single and rarely two seeds at maturity. The mature fruit is a berry.
