Fruitstalk

a stem bearing a fruit. The fruitstalk is formed from the peduncle, usually as a result of various changes in the tissues. In some plants the fruitstalk lignifies, and in others it becomes fleshy (for example, in cashews, some laurels, and the Rhamnaceae). In plants whose seeds are distributed by the shaken branches the fruitstalks are long and elastic. In many plants whose seeds are disseminated by ants the fruitstalks are fragile and drooping. Sometimes a peduncle becomes a fruitstalk almost without changing.