Multiple fruit

A multiple fruit is one formed from a group of flowers (called an inflorescence). Each flower produces a fruit, but these adult into a single mass. Examples of multiple fruit is the pineapple, edible fig, mulberry, osage-orange, and breadfruit.In a few plants, such as this noni, flowers are produced repeatedly along the stem and it is possible to see together examples of flowering, fruit development, and fruit ripening.

In the photograph on the right, stages of flowering and fruit development in the noni or Indian mulberry (Morinda citrifolia) can be observed on a single branch. First an inflorescence of white flowers called a top is produced. After fertilization, each flower develops into a drupe, and as the drupes expand, they develop into connate (merge) into a multiple fleshy fruit called a syncarpet.