Aril in the context of Nutmeg

Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits.

Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather than the ovary, such as a fleshy aril or sarcotesta.

Myristica fragrans, commonly known as the nutmeg tree, is an evergreen species indigenous to the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. This aromatic tree is economically significant as the primary source of two distinct spices: nutmeg, derived from its seed, and mace, obtained from the seed's aril.

Valued for centuries in global spice trade, M. fragrans is now widely cultivated throughout tropical regions, including parts of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia), South Asia (Kerala in India, Sri Lanka), East Asia (Guangdong and Yunnan in China, Taiwan), the Caribbean (notably Grenada), and South America.

The sarcotesta is a fleshy seedcoat, a type of testa. Examples of seeds with a sarcotesta are pomegranate, ginkgo and some cycad seeds. The sarcotesta of pomegranate seeds consists of epidermal cells derived from the integument, and there are no arils on these seeds.

Taxus baccata is an Old World species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it is sometimes called common yew, European yew, or, in North America, English yew. It is a woodland tree in its native range, including much of Eurasia and Northwest Africa. All parts of the plant except the fleshy aril are poisonous, with toxins that can be absorbed through inhalation, ingestion, and transpiration through the skin.

The wood has been prized for making longbows and for musical instruments such as lutes. Yews are often grown as ornamental trees, hedges or topiaries, including in churchyards, where they sometimes reach great age; many explanations have been given for this planting, especially that the yew is associated with death, immortality, and rebirth. Multiple place names derive from the Proto-Celtic *eburos, but scholars disagree as to whether this meant the yew tree.

Cephalotaxaceae is a small family of conifers. It is often treated as a monophyletic family including only the single genus Cephalotaxus, while others have also included Torreya and Amentotaxus in the family. Cephalotaxaceae is closely allied to the yew family Taxaceae, and is often included in a wide interpretation of Taxaceae, based on phylogenetic evidence and close morphological similarities between them. Included species were restricted to east Asia, except for two species of Torreya found in the southwest and southeast of the United States; fossil evidence shows a much wider prehistorical Northern Hemisphere distribution. The most notable differences between Taxaceae and Cephalotaxaceae concerned the cone aril, which fully encloses the seeds of Cephalotaxaceae, the longer maturation of Cephalotaxaceae seeds and the larger size of the mature seeds.

When considered as a distinct family, members of Cephalotaxaceae are much branched, small trees and shrubs. The leaves are evergreen, spirally arranged, often twisted at the base to appear biranked. They are linear to lanceolate, and have pale green or white stomatal bands on the undersides. The plants are monoecious, subdioecious, or dioecious. The male cones are 4–25 mm long, and shed pollen in the early spring. The female cones are reduced, with one to a few ovuliferous scales, and one seed on each ovuliferous scale. As the seed matures, the ovuliferous scale develops into a fleshy aril fully enclosing the seed. The mature aril is thin, green, purple or red, soft and resinous. Each ovuliferous scale remains discrete, so the cone develops into a short stem with one to a few berry-like seeds. They are probably eaten by birds or other animals which then disperse the hard seed undamaged in their droppings, but seed dispersal mechanisms in the family are not yet well researched.

In botany, a diaspore is a plant dispersal unit consisting of a seed or spore plus any additional tissues that assist dispersal. Examples of such additional structures includes elaiosomes, fruits, pseudofruits or arils, as well as pappi. In a few plants, the diaspore is a tumbleweed and comprises most of the plant.

Diaspores are common in weedy and ruderal species. Collectively, diaspores, seeds, and spores that have been modified for migration are known as disseminules.

The ackee (Blighia sapida), also known as acki, akee, or ackee apple, is a fruit of the Sapindaceae (soapberry) family, as are the lychee and the longan. It is native to tropical West Africa. The scientific name honours Captain William Bligh who took the fruit from Jamaica to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England, in 1793. The English common name is derived from the West African Akan-language name akye fufo.

Although having a long-held reputation as being poisonous with potential fatalities, the fruit arils are renowned as delicious when ripe, prepared properly, and cooked and are a feature of various Caribbean cuisines. Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica and is considered a delicacy.