The fruit is composed of three (or five follicles), each developing from a separate carpel (pistil). When describing flowers such as these, the term gynoecium is preferable to the term pistil. The gynoecium is a collective term for the carpels of a flower. Monocarpous flowers are composed of one carpel (a simple pistil). The terms apocarpous and syncarpous refer to compound pistils composed of more than one carpel. Apocarpous flowers contain two or more distinct carpels (such as the peony shown above). In syncarpous flowers, two or more carpels are fused together (connate).