Drupe, n. In Botany a drupe is a simple fleshy fruit with a single pit or stone that contains the seed. A simple fruit is formed from a pollinated ovary of a single flower. The fertilized ovary grows producing a fleshy fruit with the hardened shell in the center. A drupe has a three-layer structure: a thin skin called the exocarp, the fleshy edible part called the mesocarp and the seed and seed covering called the endocarp. In the ripened fruit, these labels correspond to the parts of the pollinated ovary.

Most drupes are common fruits consumed all over the world: “stone fruits” like plums, apricots, peaches and nectarines. But the classification also includes cherries, almonds, coconuts,lychee nuts, cashews, coffee beans, jujubes and olives, to name a few.