Bot. [f. as prec. + Gr. καρπ-ός fruit.] The inner layer of a pericarp, which lines the cavity containing the seeds. It is fleshy, as in the orange; membranous, as in the apple; or hard, as in the peach.
1830. Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 132. Fruit consisting of several capsules … the endocarp separating entirely from the sarcocarp. Ibid. (1835), Introd. Bot. (1848), II. 3. In the peach … the stone [is] the endocarp or putamen.
1883. Evang. Mag., Oct., 460. The stone in the centre is … not the seed … but the ‘endocarp’ become stony by thickening and hardening of its cells.
