silique

{{Short description|Type of seed capsule, with the length more than three times the width}}

{{Other uses|siliqua (disambiguation)}}

{{More citations needed|date = September 2018}}

Image:Cardamine.impatiens.pods.jpg]]

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.{{cite book|author1=Hickey, M. |author2=King, C. |year=2001 |title= The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms |publisher=Cambridge University Press}} When the length is less than three times the width of the dried fruit it is referred to as a silicle.{{cite book|author1=Kristin Huisinga|author2=Lori Makarick|author3=Kate Watters|title=River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hA8KAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA241|year=2006|publisher=Mountain Press Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-87842-523-5|pages=241–}} The outer walls of the ovary (the valves) usually separate when ripe, then being named dehiscent, and leaving a persistent partition (the replum). Siliques are present in many members of the mustard family, Brassicaceae, but some species have silicles instead. 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).

File:Lunaria annua MHNT.BOT.2004.0.779.jpg|Silicles of Lunaria annua – MHNT

File:Capsella bursa-pastoris Sturm23.jpg|Capsella bursa-pastoris with silicles

File:Raphanus sativus 004.jpg|Indehiscent siliques of radish Raphanus sativus

File:Cardamine occulta - Silique.jpg|Silique with seeds of Cardamine occulta

File:Broccoli siliques, hauwen (1).jpg|Siliques of the broccoli plant.