Oliver Hale.
Strawberries arent the only “fake berries” that have actually tricked you. Blackberries and raspberries are also technically not berries; but cucumbers, bananas, and even avocados are berries.
Strawberries are not technically berries according to the clinical definition. In reality, theyre not even a fruit. According to biologists, the strawberry a “false fruit,” a so-called pseudocarp. A strawberry is actually numerous fruits that include lots of small private fruits embedded in a fleshy receptacle.
Were simply getting started if you think thats strange. That thing we normally call “seeds” in a strawberry– thats actually the fruit, and its embedded in the fleshy false fruit. The actual seeds are inside what we think are the seeds.
Regular berry, botanical berry
Not to researchers.
Well, the discrepancy probably stems from how language evolved: basically, weve been calling things “berries” for a long time, method prior to researchers completely specified what a berry is. Essentially, people have been believing of berries as small, squishy fruits that grow on plants– and a technical definition will not alter that.
Wait, even fruits can get weird.
For researchers, a berry is a fleshy fruit without a stone (pit) produced from a single flower containing one ovary. A berry has seeds and pulp that establish from the ovary (yes, plants have ovaries too).
Humans enjoy calling things so they know what to call them. Researchers in particular enjoy naming things, however they take a more systematic and detailed method. In routine language, a berry is a term that uses to any little fleshy fruit thats edible. Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries are all berries for the majority of people.
What even is a fruit
Image via Wiki Commons.
By now, we also owe you a description about the “seeds” of a strawberry, or rather, what we normally call seeds and what is actually called an achene. Achenes (zoomed-in picture listed below) are a one-seeded, dry, indehiscent fruit– if youre questioning, theyre not berries either, because theyre not fleshy. Strawberries arent the only ones who trick us like this: what we call sunflower seeds are also technically simply the fruits of the sunflower plant, not the seeds.
Fruits are technically the fully grown and mature ovaries of flowers. Yes, we eat plant ovaries, and theyre delicious. Anyway, we tend to consider a fruit tas something thats sweet and a veggie as something thats not sweet, however thats got nothing to do it. Fruits consist of seeds, while vegetables can consist of roots, stems, and leaves.
You may have heard that a tomato is (technically) a fruit, although we consider it a veggie. Just like berries, people have actually been utilizing terms like “fruit” way prior to we had a technical meaning for it, and the common meaning comes from how we use things, not from what things are.
Were getting closer to the berries. Berries are fruits, so by definition, they are formed from the ovary– theyre not accessory fruits. Strawberries are formed from the receptacle, not the ovary, hence theyre not berries and not even fruits. All that fleshy, sweet, tasty strawberry that we eat is essentially accessory tissue.
The parts of a flower. The pistil is the female part, the stamen is the male part. Image via Flickr/ ProFlowers.
If we really want to be accurate, we must say that while many fruits develop from ovaries; some develop from non-reproductive structures that are near the ovaries, and they dont include seeds. In general, these are called false fruits or accessory fruits.
In fact, its not just tomatoes that we wrongly classify as veggies– a pepper is likewise a fruit, as are cucumbers and squashes.
Some other things that are berries– and some that are not
Blackberries and raspberries are both thought about aggregate fruits, with each drupelet containing a fruit. Weve already pointed out strawberries, pears, and apples as non-berries already.
Now that weve sorted our veggies from fruits and berries from non-berries, lets look at other things that, you know, are berries.
Did you understand that bananas are likewise berries? The bananas we consume are customized to have no seeds (or as unobtrusive seeds as possible), however they please all the requirements of a botanical berry, so theyre berries. Citrus fruits like oranges and lemons are likewise berries.
Coffee berries, goji berries, and honeyberries (more frequently called honeysuckle) are actually botanical berries. Gooseberry and currant are likewise berries. Cranberries, bilberries, crowberries, and blueberries are likewise berries. Phew. Then, the other berries are not in fact berries.
Still, to be accurate, cucumbers, avocadoes and citrus fruits are customized berries.
The number of berries do you see in this image?
What matters more is that strawberries are a delicious and nutritious part of our diet. They have a great deal of vitamins and fiber and anti-oxidants and do not have any sodium, fat, or cholesterol. While they do have some sugar, theyre actually not as sweet as they appear: in reality, strawberries use their odor to trick you into believing theyre sweeter than they really are.
The bananas we eat are customized to have no seeds (or as inconspicuous seeds as possible), but they satisfy all the criteria of a botanical berry, so theyre berries. True berries are called baccae, and they have a thin external skin that is not self-supporting when eliminated from the berries.
Berries that develop from an inferior ovary are also often called incorrect berries, whereas true berries are formed from exceptional ovaries (an ovary attached above other floral parts is called superior, and one that lies below the floral parts is called inferior). However, botanists are typically less strict about making this difference.
They may not be berries, but at the end of the day, strawberries are pretty cool.
Lets face it, youre still going to call all of these berries, arent you? Thats perfectly fine.
Eventually, however, does it truly matter if strawberries are berries? Or if bananas are berries or false berries? Well, if youre a botanist (or an aspiring botanist), it does– but otherwise, not really. In the grand scheme of things, people will continue to call strawberries a berry and a fruit, despite the fact that it is neither.
Well, the inconsistency probably stems from how language developed: basically, weve been calling things “berries” for a long time, method prior to scientists fully specified what a berry is. Coffee berries, goji berries, and honeyberries (more typically called honeysuckle) are in fact botanical berries. Then, the other berries are not actually berries.
True berries are called baccae, and they have a thin outer skin that is not self-supporting when gotten rid of from the berries. Citrus fruits, for circumstances, have actually the interior divided into segments, that is also a modification from what we think about to be a true berry (but its still not enough of an adjustment for them to be thought about aggregate fruits).