2006-12-12 12:40:06 · 4 answers · asked by Alexis S 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Botany
If you took a sweet, juicy, well-developed apple and cut it in half (cross-sectionally), you would see that the ovary has 5 compartments (called "carpels"). Each carpel should contain 2 seeds, for a total of 10 seeds per apple(except for the "Northern Spy" which contains 4 seeds per carpel and may therefore develop 20 seeds).
Apples that are well developed and have most of their seeds are said to be "set". But, apples don't always set, and don't always produce the total number of seeds they are capable of producing.
TWO FACTORS INFLUENCE SEED DEVELOPMENT
FIRST...the number of seeds inside each apple is related to the health of the tree. Apple trees are kept in good health when they grow in nutrient-rich soil, have appropriate amounts of water, and a favourable climate. Healthier trees produce better fruit with more and larger seeds.
SECOND...apple blossoms (flowers) need to be pollinated in order to grow large fruit that have most or all of their seeds.
Pollen is a substance produced by apple trees as well as many other plants, and is necessary for reproduction. Pollen stimulates the development of the seed, which in turn stimulates other parts of the fruit to develop.
In late spring, lovely white blossoms appear on apple trees for about 9 days. These blossoms produce a lot of pollen, as well as a sweet nutrient-rich substance called nectar. Honeybees are attracted to the blossoms in order to obtain the nectar, and as they move from tree to tree collecting nectar they also (without knowing it) transfer pollen from blossom to blossom. In fact, honeybees are the primary carriers of pollen in an apple orchard, as apple pollen is seldom carried by wind. In a mature orchard there should be at least one beehive per acre.
2006-12-12 13:36:00 · answer #1 · answered by jamaica 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
as apple belongs to family of rose i.e. rosaceae.its ovary is pentalocular ,polycarpellary ovary.but in apple carples are 4-5....each locule contain 2 ovules which are converted into seeds later. (locule is compartment in which ovules are present).....so, average no. of seeds in apple are 8-10
2006-12-16 05:30:37 · answer #2 · answered by priyanka111984 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I saw 4 mostly
2006-12-12 12:47:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
um...id depends what are the numbers we get to work with
to find an average add all the #'s together than divide by the number of numbers
2006-12-12 12:43:46 · answer #4 · answered by Andrew 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋