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The production of a fruit without the setting of seeds. The process is an irrelevance in the life history of a plant and is unusual in that it appears not to benefit the plant in any way. Parthenocarpy is most often seen in plants with numerous ovules in the fruit, e.g. fig and melon. In some species, e.g. cucumber, pollination is not required to stimulate parthenocarpy. Where pollination is necessary parthenocarpy may result either because the pollen tube does not reach the ovule or because the embryos abort following fertilization, as in seedless grapes. Triploidy, which results in sterile plants, can also lead to parthenocarpy, as in the banana.
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