# Botany trivia. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2002, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366 "2002-04-02T11:11:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/1 "2002-04-02T11:11:27Z")
My botany lecturer is running a trivia quiz, with an unknown prize. It’s not super important, or being marked, and is just for fun. Anyway, I’ve solved all of the questions, bar two, and they are bugging me. If anybody would care to have a stab at it, I’d be very appreciative, because they are starting to niggle at the back of my mind. 1. What do pumpkins, grapes and raspberries have in common ? and 1. World production of this fruit far exceeds that of any other. Which fruit ? So what do the teeming millions think ? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/2 "2002-04-02T11:53:55Z")
1. Could be almost anything; they are all dicotyledons, the fruits of all contain fructose, they can all be grown in temperate regions, they are all cultivated commercially and so on. 2)My guess would be tomatoes or grapes. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/3 "2002-04-02T11:58:20Z")
1. Vines 2. Tomatoes ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/4 "2002-04-02T12:01:29Z")
1. Addendum: In case tomatoes are not a fruit… bananas would be my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/5 "2002-04-02T12:02:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Goo \* > **1) What do pumpkins, grapes and raspberries have in common ?** They’re all fruits? They all grow from vine-like things? (raspberries look like vines, and can be grown on the same structures as grape vines, but they’re more like linear bushes)\*\* > [@](#): > > 1. World production of this fruit far exceeds that of any other. Which fruit ?\*\* Gooseberries. (no) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/6 "2002-04-02T13:23:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AbbySthrnAccent \* > **1) Vines** Raspberries grow on _canes_. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/7 "2002-04-02T13:25:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AbbySthrnAccent \* > **2) …In case tomatoes are not a fruit…** Don’t go there. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/8 "2002-04-02T13:28:26Z")
Since this is a botanist we’re talking about, he/she might haull out a surprise answer for 2) in that things like wheat, rice and lentils are all grown for their _fruit_ (in the obscure botanical sense of the word). ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/9 "2002-04-02T15:21:13Z")
1. All 3 are technically berries. 2. Grapes. Honey ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/10 "2002-04-02T15:25:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Don’t go there. \*\* I’m not trying to start anything. It occured to me that here where the great past time is debate and nitpicking that I should hedge my guess against whoever was going to come in with the age old arguement. Additionally, I remembered someone mentioning in passing something about bananas being the most popular fruit in the world. I didn’t bother to google either answer to check for cites and I should have since this is GQ. My apologies. As for raspberry canes, canes it is then, I conceed your superior knowledge on the subject. I grew up calling the the ones out back of grandma’s house [vines](http://www.google.com/search?q=Raspberry+Vines&hl=en&start=10&sa=N). Apparently it’s a rather common thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/11 "2002-04-02T15:34:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Honey \* > \*\*1. All 3 are technically berries. > \*\* Not the raspberry I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/12 "2002-04-02T15:39:25Z")
**AbbySthrnAccent** : I wasn’t having a g, sorry if it looked that way. In any case, the right answer is the one that the lecturer has written on his/her answer sheet; that won’t necessarily be the most sensible correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/13 "2002-04-02T15:40:37Z")
That should read ‘having a go’. :o ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/14 "2002-04-02T15:59:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Floater \* > \*\* > > Not the raspberry I’m afraid. \*\* You’re right, thanks for the correction. A raspberry is not a berry, but a cluster of drupelets. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/15 "2002-04-02T17:37:17Z")
**Goo** when all is said and done, will you please let us know how this shakes out? I’m curious about the answers now too. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/16 "2002-04-02T22:15:29Z")
Well, it seems that all guesses have been proven wrong by other people popping in ! I’m not that fussed about what the lecturer has as the “correct” answer, because if I can prove my answer is just as “correct”, it’ll be ok. This subject is very much open to debate and discussion. Anyway, I’ll let you know what the answers are, if I find out, though I’d appreciate more help from you lot! In the meantime, there’s an additional one that I missed : Which herb in the genus _Omcimum_ was verbally abused and sworn at by both ancient Greeks and Romans while the seed were being sown ? Happy trivia hunting. (my guess for the above question is basil, but I’m not 100% sure about it, since ancient history is not my thing) Thanks for the help so far ! ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/17 "2002-04-03T00:25:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Goo \* > Which herb in the genus _Omcimum_ was verbally abused and sworn at by both ancient Greeks and Romans while the seed were being sown ? [This site](http://plantsdatabase.com/genus/Ocimum/) indicates the whole genus is basil. I would guess holy basil or sweet basil on the basis that putting the word “holy” or “sweet” before other words is used as a form of cursing. ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/18 "2002-04-03T08:39:52Z")
Updates : The answer to the ancient roman/greek _Omcimum_ question has been confirmed… it is basil. The answer to what pumpkin, grape and raspberry have in common is monoecious. (i.e have reproductive organs for both sexes on the same plant) The answer to the question about which fruit is produced the most in the world is still unanswered. Any educated guesses are welcome at this stage 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kuroashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9a140/32.png) [@kuroashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kuroashi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/19 "2002-04-03T08:48:45Z")
produced the most… are we talking net weight? acreage? I’ll toss out a guess anyway. the orange ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366/20 "2002-04-03T08:58:53Z")
The olive needs to be considered too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/botany-trivia/101366.md?page=2)