Locule

{{Short description|Small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism}}

{{multiple image

|footer=A bilocular and a multilocular tomato fruit

|image1=Tomatoes plain and sliced.jpg

|width1=120

|image2=Cuor di bue 3in1.jpg

|width2=145

}}

A locule ({{plural form}}: locules) or loculus ({{langnf|la||little place}}; {{plural form}}: loculi) is a small cavity{{cite web |url=https://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/loculus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718140550/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/loculus |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 18, 2012 |title=loculus |publisher=Oxford Dictionaries}} or compartment within an organ or part of an organism (animal, plant, or fungus).

In angiosperms (flowering plants), the term locule usually refers to a chamber within an ovary (gynoecium or carpel) of the flower and fruits. Depending on the number of locules in the ovary, fruits can be classified as {{em|unilocular}} (uni-locular), {{em|bilocular}}, {{em|trilocular}}, or {{em|multilocular}}. The number of locules present in a gynoecium may be equal to or less than the number of carpels. The locules contain the ovules or seeds.

The term may also refer to chambers within anthers containing pollen.{{cite book |last1=Hickey|first1=M. |last2=King|first2=C. |year=2001 |title=The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}

In ascomycetous fungi, locules are chambers within the hymenium in which the perithecia develop.{{cite web |url=https://palaeos.com/fungi/glossary/glossaryG.html#L |title=Fungi Glossary |publisher=Palaeos.com |url-status=dead |access-date=2016-05-04 |archive-date=2015-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118230201/http://palaeos.com/fungi/glossary/glossaryG.html#L }}