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Explanation: I just can't help wondering if this isn't a typo for 'drupe', which seems to make so much more sense in a botanical context!
Yes, I know I'm always the first to say that one shouldn't start off by assuming a typo, but in this case, it does seem so very likely...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2007-07-05 13:48:03 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
From your added context, Conor, I am more than ever convinced that this is a typo, since what it describes is exactly the description of the 'drupe' of a raspberry. Cf. NS OED:
"drupe: A fleshy indehiscent fruit with an outer skin and a central stone enclosing the seed (e.g. a cherry, a plum)."
It is understandable as a typo, because 'drupe' probably wouldn't be found in a spell-checker, whereas 'dupe' would — so if someone had the misfortune to hit 'replace all' while spell-checking, every occurrence would have been 'corrected'!
A later part of the same text covers raspberries, and has this:
"Characteristiques du fruit : composé de minuscules fruits (dupes) remplis de pulpe contenant chacun une graine. Les dupes sont recouvertes de poils microscopiques qui donne à la framboise un aspect velouté".
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Answers
10 mins confidence:
a crest
Explanation: une dupe comes from the bird huppe, which is typical for its stupid outlooks caused by a crest. So this fruit ( I don't know which) could have kind of a crest .(?) (Information from Littré Enc.)
Explanation: I just can't help wondering if this isn't a typo for 'drupe', which seems to make so much more sense in a botanical context!
Yes, I know I'm always the first to say that one shouldn't start off by assuming a typo, but in this case, it does seem so very likely...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2007-07-05 13:48:03 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
From your added context, Conor, I am more than ever convinced that this is a typo, since what it describes is exactly the description of the 'drupe' of a raspberry. Cf. NS OED:
"drupe: A fleshy indehiscent fruit with an outer skin and a central stone enclosing the seed (e.g. a cherry, a plum)."
It is understandable as a typo, because 'drupe' probably wouldn't be found in a spell-checker, whereas 'dupe' would — so if someone had the misfortune to hit 'replace all' while spell-checking, every occurrence would have been 'corrected'!
Tony M France Local time: 17:54 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 37
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +5
