# Fruit n' Vegetables **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 30, 2000, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406 "2000-07-30T05:10:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![soulsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@soulsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulsling)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/1 "2000-07-30T05:10:20Z")
Tomatos are considered fruit. This I understand. Are cucumbers considered fruit? Why not? What makes them different from Tomatos (aside from color, shape, and taste) that would make them a vegetable. Why do they belong with 'tatos and yams and carrots, but not with tomatos, and why those not with apples and oranges? ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/2 "2000-07-30T05:52:48Z")
it is a fruit. a berry, i believe. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/3 "2000-07-30T05:56:30Z")
Technically speaking, anything that carries the seed is a fruit. Other parts of the plant are vegetables. By that definition, cucumbers are fruit. So are pumpkins. Still, I think of anything not sweet as a vegetable. No, that’s not right, because lemons and limes are fruit. I guess it’s just that in general texture and taste, cucumbers resemble celery, aspargus, and broccoli more than apples and oranges. Speaking of misleading food names, turn down any offers for sweetbread. Take my word for it on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Anniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cc9497/32.png) [@Anniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anniz)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/4 "2000-07-30T06:01:30Z")
I’ve heard that strawberry is a fruit. Always thought it was a berry. Confusen… ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/5 "2000-07-30T06:07:20Z")
berries are fruits. but a strawberry is not a berry. : ) ---
**Author:** ![Anniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/cc9497/32.png) [@Anniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anniz)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/6 "2000-07-30T06:32:16Z")
A banan is not just a fruit, it’s also a berry, but if a berry is a fruit, how can it be a berry also??? ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/7 "2000-07-30T06:39:07Z")
bananas are berries. berries are fruits. bananas are fruits. tada. ---
**Author:** ![Baskety](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@Baskety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baskety)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/8 "2000-07-30T06:49:21Z")
Also stem and root plants like potatoes and carrots and brussles sprouts and cinnamon. But not mushrooms. ---
**Author:** ![Baskety](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@Baskety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baskety)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/9 "2000-07-30T06:50:45Z")
(mushrooms are fuguses and not plants at all) ---
**Author:** ![Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Kilgore\_Trout\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilgore_Trout_1)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/10 "2000-07-30T06:54:51Z")
i am really looking forward to the evidence that supports this. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/11 "2000-07-30T08:00:36Z")
The “banana’s a berry” thing is new to me. Anyone have the definition of a berry? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/12 "2000-07-30T08:41:01Z")
I know there are technical definitions but here is how I’ve always split them in my mind: If it grows on a tree (or something big enough to make me think it is a tree) and is not a nut, it is a fruit. If it grows on anything less than a tree it is a vegetable. Thus: tomatoes are vegetables (in my mind) apples are fruit strawberries are vegetables figs are fruit bananas are fruit Avacadoes and olives are problems as I think of them as vegetables even though they grow on trees. > [@](#): > > Anniz said: > **A banan is not just a fruit, > it’s also a berry, > but if a berry is a fruit, > how can it be a berry also???,** To which I say: If a square is a rectangle how can it be a square also??? ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/13 "2000-07-30T14:26:42Z")
Fruits are plant parts that contain seeds (male and female contribution) and the ovary wall from the female plant. Fruits can be simple (one seed), aggregate (more than one seed, but coming from one flower with many ovaries), or multiple (more than one flower). Simple fruits are peaches (also called **drupes or stone fruit** ) or apples (called **pomes** ) while aggregate fruits like strawberries can be **achenes** (the seed, with the ovary wall sits on a non-ovarian, but yummy, tissue). Grapes and tomatoes are **berries** as are bananas, but bananas can be parthenocarpic, which means they don’t need seeds to develop… Now I have a headache and remember why I didn’t go into botany. For more on [fruit types click here](http://www.uga.edu/hortcrop/rieger/fruitkey.html). And here’s the definition of a berry: \* - a fleshy, indehiscent fruit with more-or-less homogeneous texture throughout, derived from a single, superior ovary. One- to many-seeded. Term often misused. Example - grape. An epigynous berry is same derived from an inferior ovary (like blueberry).\* From [this glossary](http://www.uga.edu/hortcrop/rieger/glossary.htm). So, a grape is a berry, but a strawberry is an achene. Oh, and a watermelon is a **pepo**. If I’ve used it in a dessert, it’s a fruit. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2000, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/14 "2000-07-30T15:00:23Z")
\*\*cucumber:\*\*_1_a trailing annual vine of the gourd family; grown for its edible fruit _2_the long fruit, with a green rind and firm, white flesh, gathered before fully mature and used in salads or preserved as pickles This definition states that a cucumebr is a gourd, and, therefore, a fruit. Does this answer your question now? ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/15 "2000-08-29T04:36:33Z")
> [@](#): > > I know there are technical definitions but here is how I’ve always split them in my mind: > > If it grows on a tree (or something big enough to make me think it is a tree) and is not a nut, it is a fruit. > > If it grows on anything less than a tree it is a vegetable. Good definition, but what about watermelons, and grapes? Would you call those vegetables? I think we have to keep searching. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fruit-n-vegetables/27406/16 "2000-08-29T07:49:24Z")
I use the classic defition: If it tastes better with chocolate than garlic, it’s a fruit. If it tastes better with garlic than chocolate, it’s a vegetable. If it tastes equally good with garlic and chocolate, add some chiles and call it mole.