Stone fruit facts for kids

A diagram showing the parts of a typical stone fruit like a peach.

The seed is found inside the hard stone of a peach.

A raspberry is an aggregate fruit. It's made of many tiny drupelets.

A stone fruit is also called a drupe. It's a type of fruit that has a large, hard "stone" inside. People sometimes call this stone a seed, but that's not quite right. The real seed is actually hidden inside the stone! These stones are also known as pits.

Some common examples of stone fruits you might know are peaches, nectarines, plums, lychees, mangoes, and cherries. These fruits are delicious to eat and are often used in cooking.

What we call a "fruit" in everyday talk can be different from what a botanist (a scientist who studies plants) calls it. For example, not all drupes have one big stone. Think about raspberries! If you carefully break open a raspberry, you'll see many tiny stones inside. They are called stones because the seeds have a special covering, not because they are big and hard.

Each of the small, round parts that make up a raspberry has a tiny pit inside. These little parts are called drupelets, which means "little drupes."

What are the different types of stone fruits?

When we talk about stone fruits, we often mean fruits from the Prunus family. This family includes many popular fruits like peaches, plums, and cherries. But the term "drupe" is a bit wider and includes other fruits too.

Freestone vs. Clingstone Fruits

Have you ever tried to cut a peach and found the stone stuck to the flesh? Or did it pop right out? That's the difference between freestone and clingstone fruits!

Freestone Fruits

Freestone fruits have a stone that you can easily remove from the fruit's flesh. The flesh isn't attached to the stone, so you don't need to cut around it to get the stone out. Freestone fruits are great for things like making homemade prunes from plums or pies from sour cherries. This is because it's much easier to remove the pit when you're preparing a lot of fruit.

Clingstone Fruits

Clingstone fruits have a stone that is strongly attached to the flesh. You usually have to cut the fruit away from the stone to remove it. Clingstone fruits, especially peaches and nectarines, are often preferred for eating fresh or for making jams. This is because their flesh tends to be softer and juicier all the way through.

Images for kids

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  The stone inside a peach.

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  The growth of a nectarine over about 7.5 months.

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  A collection of different drupes.

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  The pit of a nectarine.

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  Unripe drupes of black pepper.

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  A Black Butte blackberry, made of many small drupelets.

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  A ripe areca nut.

See also

In Spanish: Drupa para niños