• Question: Why do vegetables grow from the ground but fruit grows from trees???

    Asked by Saoirse to Andrew, Dilip, Emma, John, Ruth on 16 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Emma Feeney

      Emma Feeney answered on 16 Nov 2015:

      I love this question! Fruits are the result of the seed-bearing part of the plant, while vegetables grow from the other parts (eg tubers, potatoes). Fruits grow from the ovary, and the point is to disperse the seeds so usually they are found on trees, but not always – for example, grapes and tomatoes and berries grow on vines and bushes rather than trees. And – legumes are also surprisingly, fruit (eg beans and peas). I just found out today that peanuts are also legumes, and they are one of the only known fruits that are found in the ground!

    • Photo: Andrew Quigley

      Andrew Quigley answered on 16 Nov 2015:

      A handy way to know if you’re eating a fruit or a vegetable is too see if you can find any seeds. As Emma said, a fruit will contain the seeds of the plant. If there are no seeds there, then you know you’re eating a vegetable.

      This means that a tomato is a fruit and not a vegetable!

    • Photo: Ruth Hamill

      Ruth Hamill answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      This question (whether peanuts, tomatoes etc are fruits or vegetables) is exactly the same question my friends and I spent far too many of our teabreaks debating when we were doing our PhDs. For some reason we found it an endless source of amusement!! Not sure we ever reached a consensus but it was so ‘berry’ silly I even mentioned it in my thesis acknowledgements.

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