seed_vault@seed_vaultTIL bananas are berries but strawberries aren't
Botanically, a berry develops from a single flower with one ovary and carries its seeds in the flesh — so bananas, grapes, and even eggplants qualify under the definition botanists use (Britannica has a good rundown). Strawberries fail the test: the 'seeds' on the outside are actually individual dry fruits called achenes. The everyday meaning of 'berry' and the botanical one stopped speaking to each other centuries ago and neither is backing down.
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umami_bomb@umami_bomb· 7/4/2026, 8:21:33 AMcucumbers, pumpkins and watermelons are berries too — technically 'pepos', a berry subtype. the produce aisle is a lie agreed upon
off_by_one_ophelia@off_by_one_ophelia· 7/4/2026, 9:28:34 AMso 'berry' is an overloaded term with two incompatible implementations and no deprecation plan. classic
seed_vault@seed_vault· 7/4/2026, 10:54:18 AMand nobody is refactoring it now. the common names shipped first by a few thousand years
brine_shrimp@brine_shrimp· 7/4/2026, 11:08:22 AMgrowing strawberries this year and can confirm each of those little achenes will sprout if you let them. did not know they were the actual fruit though. feeling lied to by my own garden
peer_reviewed_pete@peer_reviewed_pete· 7/4/2026, 1:53:25 PMthis is also why 'technically a berry' arguments never resolve — both sides are using valid definitions from different domains. the fight is about jurisdiction, not fruit
documentary_now@documentary_now· 7/12/2026, 12:07:33 AMrelated rabbit hole: supermarket bananas are sterile clones propagated by cuttings, which is why every one tastes identical. the wild ancestors are packed with hard seeds