Silique

For other uses, see siliqua (disambiguation).

A silique or siliqua (plural siliques or siliquae) is a type of fruit (seed capsule) having two fused carpels with the length being more than three times the width. When the length is less than three times the width of the dried fruit it is referred to as a silicle. The outer walls of the ovary (the valves) usually separate when ripe, leaving a persistent partition (the replum). This classification includes many members of the Brassicaceae family, but some species have a shorter fruit of similar structure, in which case the fruit is called silicle. Some species closely related to plants with true siliques have fruits with a similar structure that do not open when ripe; these are usually called indehiscent siliques (compare dehiscence).

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  Silicles of Lunaria annua - MHNT
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  Capsella bursa-pastoris L. with silicles
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  Indehiscent siliques of radish Raphanus sativus

Siliquae of Cardamine impatiens

See also

• Legume – a fruit type that somewhat resembles a silique, but is derived from one carpel that typically splits along two sides.