Hesperidium

A hesperidium (plural Hesperidien ) or a Endokarpbeere is the botanical name for a fleshy berry fruit with a hard, leathery shell.

Well-known examples are citrus fruits such as orange or lemon.

The term was introduced as hesperidium Linnaeus in the 18th century based on the golden fruit from the gardens of the Hesperides in Greek mythology. The designation as Endokarpbeere refers to the inner layer of the ovary, called the endocarp, from which the flesh develops.

The shell contains depressions glands with essential oils. It is composed of the epidermis, which is the waxy surface of the beneath it, colored flavedo or the exocarp and the underlying albedo or white approximately the mesocarp. The fleshy interior is composed by ( double ) hides of each other separated sections ( wedges), called carpels, which are filled with fluid-filled juice sacs of specialized hair cells.