The strawberry explanation was close…but no cigar. Strawberry plants do produce fruits; it’s just not the part you think of. The fleshy sweet part of the “strawberry” is actually formed from the receptacle of the flower. This is essentially where a flower meets its stalk. The “seeds” that we see on the outside of this are in actuality the fruit. The fruits from a strawberry are tiny achenes, dry fruits with the seed tucked away inside. Sunflower “seeds” are a well known achene as are most fruits from the family Asteraceae (asters, sunflowers, thistles and others).
It’s important to note that a fruit doesn’t have to be fleshy, it simply has to be formed from the walls of a plant ovary. There are a wide variety of dry fruits including grains, nuts and dry capsules.
The part of the strawberry that we eat is referred to technically as an “accessory fruit”, as it is formed as an accessory to the true fruits that stud the outside.
Most biology majors missed this exam question in my botany lab.
Just so other users can follow along in the discussion, here’s the original report that spawned this thread. Or seeded it, or vegetatively offshot it, or whatever.
I’m sure you’re correct in a botanical sence, I’d say you know what you’re talking about.
However, as has been mentioned before, words carry differant meaning when used in a differant context. For example fruits in a culinary sense are almost always sweet. Certainly not the case in botany.
It’s like asking what the three primary colors are.
Sure, but since the column is discussing the botanical definition, the OP has a point.
I would take issue with the column’s statement: “strawberries do not normally reproduce by seeds”. It’s just false when stated like that; strawberries happen to have more than one reproductive strategy; including runners and seeds. In horticulture, strawberry plants are often propagated by runners, but that’s not the same as “strawberries do not normally reproduce by seeds” - left to themselves, they’ll do both.
Drupes (such as peaches, olives, and cherries) and pomes (such as apples and pears) are not berries. Blackberries, despite carrying the berry name, are not berries, botanically speaking. I believe blackberries are aggregate fruits, with each little bump being a drupe.
Watermelons, squashes, pumpkins, etc., are pepos, a type of berry. Hesperidia (the citrus fruits) are also botanically berries.
