Fruit or Veg?

[Rachael98]

I have been reliably informed:


Anyway, here's my HUGE GIANT AWFUL problem: get ready for it...... in farm story the artichokes are listed as fruit but they are actually vegetables.

I assume that this is correct, TL probably need to fix this.
But whilst we're on the subject, are there any more errors like this?

[hectorloch]

Well Rachael, I posted a comment on this a few days ago. I said then that to my knowledge TL were never wrong on these things - although they've had me searching on Wiki once or twice e.g. were coffee and tomatoes fruits, and very recently were flax and cotton truly flowers ? An artichoke is part of the thistle family and as such it is strictly a FRUIT. Most people would assume however - and may still argue, we'll see - that it's a veg. I certainly thought it was before that update.

The original post came up because someone questioned why a duck was included in Animals - the answer being a bird is both a bird and an animal, but an animal first.

[Mogwai4111]

From what I've read it sounds like it should be considered a vegetable..


Some fruits are eaten at an immature stage (bush beans, okra cucumbers) and others are eaten when the seeds are mature(tomato, apple). So if we use pollination as the dividing line, then pre-pollination flowers (broccoli) would be vegetables. But even then the flowers of artichokes aren't eaten. The part of the artichoke that is consumed is the fleshy receptacle and the fleshy bases (both sort of cream colored) of the bracts (modified leaves) that surround the flowers. And like broccoli, most of what is eaten in the artichoke are these vegetative parts associated with the artichoke. So basically, the answer is artichokes are vegetable. Wasn't that exciting?

http://phytophactor.blogspot.com/2008/02/artichoke-fruit-or-vegetable.html

[pinkster73]

Wow I'm happy I started a discussion about this outside of my own house. Thanks rachael98!

[hectorloch]

Interesting article. Trailblazer perhaps in that he introduces his own classification system in which he self invents a pre and post pollination test. As he writes himself "... if pollination is the dividing line ..." His "if" I think. Below your man's article, someone then says OK, so on your theory a strawberry is a vegetable and gets a smart answer which I have to say I didn't find totally convincing. I was surprised to find there is in fact no universal regulatory body or coding for plants although the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) seems to take a much respected lead in these things. However, it would appear that anyone can come up with their own classification for plants and this bloke appears to have done just that. Nonetheless, a simple search will bring up a greater consistency which is that the Globe Artichoke (not to be confused with the Jerusalem Artichoke) is a member of the Thistle family. For so long as it does, it's academically a FRUIT But in the kitchen, I would still regard it (as I had always regarded it before TL called it a FRUIT) and, more importantly perhaps, treat it as a vegetable.

More interestingly, I see a chap called Hoffmeister crops up :) as having had a lot to do with plant classification and while my researches are in their infancy it begins to look as though Hoffmeister's Rules may be equally applied to the determination of the outcome (in certain scenarios) of online Derby competitions - more when I have it.

I saw earlier on the Forum that Mushrooms were also tipped to appear on FS - someone reported getting a "You Can Now Buy Mushrooms" pop up - but so far, no show. It may be the reason for the delay is that TL is stumped on its classification and doesn't know where to put it. I read from Wiki that "mushrooms are not plants" at all explaining that they aren't because they do not undergo photosynthesis. I wonder who invented that rule. I would have thought fungus (fungi?) had a place in the plant world, but there you are.

Rachael, where did your quote come from ?

[pinkster73]

It came from me. I haven't researched as far in depth as you have, but what I have read says its a vegetable. Also my children, grades 6 and 7, are taught in school its a vegetable. And who can argue with a junior high teacher :)

[hectorloch]

It came from me. I haven't researched as far in depth as you have, but what I have read says its a vegetable. Also my children, grades 6 and 7, are taught in school its a vegetable. And who can argue with a junior high teacher :)

Who indeed ?

[Rachael98]

Who indeed ?

TeamLava?
And, the quote cam be viewed on my VMs. This is quite interesting...who'd have known that I'd learn so much by playing a game? But all in all, I think that we can conclude that an artichoke is not as TL classify it.
I'm not sure about mushrooms, but I'll research it tomorrow when I'm not completely knackered:p;)

[hectorloch]

Look out later today for our new discussion "Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?", "Chaos Theory" and what it all means for the hand held games player :)

[hectorloch]

Well Rachael, I posted a comment on this a few days ago. I said then that to my knowledge TL were never wrong on these things .....

Hmmmm ! May have to revise this view. Pumpkins and Bell Peppers are botanically fruits. It's all in the pips :)

Sorry, all very boring, I'm sure, but it won't stop raining here !

[Rachael98]

Hmmmm ! May have to revise this view. Pumpkins and Bell Peppers are botanically fruits. It's all in the pips :)

Sorry, all very boring, I'm sure, but it won't stop raining here !

Boring? No it's not. This is what I'd count as interesting, if not slightly complicated! A good investigation of lots of different facts and sources:p. I know that the pips make a difference, but if it's a fungus (eg. the mushrooms), then that's where it gets slightly more ':confused:'. Still, we must find a conclusion...then hope that TL change it if we're right.

Thanks pinkster for such a thought-provoking topic.

[pinkster73]

Yes the pumpkins and peppers are fruits because they have seeds, same as tomatoes.

I didn't think this would start such a discussion when I brought this up but I'm happy it did :)

[pinkster73]

Ps I don't know what pips are so my above post may have repeated what hectorloch said. If so then oops

[hectorloch]

Ps I don't know what pips are so my above post may have repeated what hectorloch said. If so then oops

No, that's right. Here is a wider article -

http://www.suite101.com/content/fruit-or-vegetable--a9756

If I've got this right it is the pips that are the fruit, not the soft body that grows around the "plant". So when you eat a strawberry for example the bit you enjoy isn't actually the fruit; the bits that get stuck in your teeth are ! When I grasped that bit :) it became easier to understand why the botanical classification is often quite different from what we perceive these "plants" to be when they are in the kitchen. Great subject, Pinskster.

[Rachael98]

Interesting. Weird people leaving comments, but a well-written and informative piece. Thank you.

[hectorloch]

Yes, the comments on the article Mog referred to were a little more up market !

[Rachael98]

Yes, the comments on the article Mog referred to were a little more up market !

Haha:p!

I don't understand

I don't understand

I don't understand etc.

Yes, there were a few people who obviously didn't read the article that carefully!