A seed covering or appendage that resembles an aril but develops differently or from a different part of the plant; an aril-like but non-homologous structure.
From 'aril' plus the Greek suffix '-ode' (from 'eidos') meaning 'resembling' or 'like,' creating a term for false arils that look similar but are botanically different.
The term 'arillode' is botanical detective work—it proves that nature can create identical-looking structures through completely different recipes, which helps evolutionary biologists understand when similarity means relationship versus when it's just clever design!
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