Reference for Berakhot 72:12

הוה עובדא ושקלוה לנץ דרמונא ויבש רמונא ושקלוה לפרחא דביטיתא ואיקיים ביטיתא

but here [in the case of the caper] the fruit does not perish if the protecting [bud] is removed. The experiment was made ; they removed the blossom of the pomegranate and the fruit withered ; they removed the flower of the caper but the caper survived.

Jastrow