A term with several meanings; historically synonymous with compound fruit (which is preferred), both defined as being fruits that develop from more than one flower (Spjut & Thieret, 1989). Spjut and Thieret (1989) traced the confusion to Lindley (1832) who reversed the meanings of aggregate and multiple as defined by de Candolle (1813) and earlier by Link and Gärtner. English text books have generally adopted Lindley’s errors, whereas non-English text books have followed de Candolle’s definitions, or have employed other related terms. To avoid further confusion between aggregate and multiple, Spjut and Thieret (1989) recommended the term compound fruit be adopted instead of aggregate fruit for fruits that develop from more than one flower, and that the original and correct meaning for multiple fruit be maintained.
A dense cluster of berries (examples: dewberry, blackberry, or mulberry).