How do pomes such as apples and pears differ from berries and drupes?

Pomes, berries, and drupes are all types of fleshy fruits, but they differ significantly in their botanical structure and development.

Pomes vs. Berries and Drupes

The primary distinction lies in how these fruits are formed:

• Pomes: Apples and pears are classified as accessory fruits because they develop from a compound inferior ovary where additional floral parts, such as the floral tube or stem axis, participate in fruit formation. In a pome, the fleshy part we eat is largely derived from these accessory tissues, while the true pericarp forms only the central "core," which contains a cartilaginous or stony endocarp enclosing the seeds.1
• Berries: A berry is a simple fleshy fruit derived from a single ovary of an individual flower. In true berries, both the middle and inner layers of the fruit wall are fleshy, and they typically contain many seeds.21
• Drupes: A drupe is also a simple fleshy fruit derived from a single ovary, but it is characterized by a distinct layering of the pericarp: a thin outer skin, a fleshy middle layer, and a hard, stony inner layer known as the pit or endocarp, which usually protects a single seed.31