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> (note: botanically watermelons are vegetables, but culturally we eat them as fruit) Wait a second, I thought it was the other way around, i.e. I thought that

> (note: botanically watermelons are vegetables, but culturally we eat them as fruit) Wait a second, I thought it was the other way around, i.e. I thought that "cousins" of watermelons such as cucumber, squash or zucchini were botanically fruits but we ate them as vegetables. Otherwise, how come that we call them "fruiting vegetables"? Can someone with more knowledge than me, explain this?

KMnO4 5y ago
That is correct. Vegetable isn’t really a botanical word since you typically refer to the specific parts of the plant (eg root, bulb, leaves, flower, fruit, etc). Vegetable is just a catch-all to cover “parts of the plant we eat”. Fruits have a specific definition: the seed-bearing body of a plant produced by the ovary after flowering. I.e. if you have a flowering plant, the “fruit” is the part that contains the seeds.
- gumby 5y ago
  ... And the watermelon, like all gourds, is one of them: a plant cultivated only for its fruit. That appears to be a bug in the blog post. Some plants, are eaten both ways (both the fruiting body and leaves or other body parts are consumed). With fungi we eat only the fruiting body, but nobody calls them “fruit” except in the superclass sense (“fruit of the land”)
  - catlikesshrimp 5y ago
    We don't call them fruit, we call them mushroom. And they can't have fruits, as in pear tress or other angiosperm plants, because mushrooms aren't plants. The fruiting body, which is not fruit, doesn't have seeds. They have spores, I think.
uulu 5y ago
What does it mean: "to eat something as vegetable"?
- silisili 5y ago
  It's a very deep rabbit hole, but apparently, vegetables are eaten as a main course, and fruit as a dessert. I only even remember this because of an argument I had many years ago regarding whether a tomato was a vegetable or fruit. I chose the veggie side, but had no real evidence. Come to find out, after researching, the Supreme Court agreed. It's all rather silly, honestly, but have a read for yourself on the background and decision. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden
  - memco 5y ago
    Another fun brain bender you can drop on people at your next dinner is that bananas and tomatoes are both berries but strawberries and blackberries are not.
    - anang 5y ago
      I think Wikipedia draws a good distinction here: culinary and botanical. So, banana is NOT berry in a culinary sense, and a strawberry is. Even if, botanically it’s the opposite. I think it’s an important distinction because people using the term “berry” almost always are using it in a culinary context and not a botanical context. No one wants a pie with fresh “aggregate accessory fruits”, just as much as no one would think it’s correct to call an eggplant tomato pie a dessert with “fresh berries”.
  - geoduck14 5y ago
    >I only even remember this because of an argument I had many years ago regarding whether a tomato was a vegetable or fruit. I chose the veggie side, but had no real evidence. Come to find out, after researching, the Supreme Court agreed. Does anyone else remember when Congress told everyone that pizza was a vegetable? Haha. Good times.
    - coremoff 5y ago
      Without meaning to defend it too much, as I believe it's mostly a marketting/lobying thing... As I understand it, the issue was whether or not you could count a pizza towards your vegetable quota. The argument came down to the nutritional content of the tomato sauce on the pizza; nutritionally, this was very similar to the requirements for other things that can be classified as vegetables, and so one portion of pizza was deemed to also count as one portion of vegetables.
powersnail 5y ago
I think you are right. Vegetable has only a culinary definition, not a botanical one. And I don't think many people would classify watermelons as a vegetable, except that watermelon skins are sometimes used for cooking. On the other hand, watermelons are definitely fruits, in both the botanical and culinary sense. This is reminds me of this video: [No Such Thing As A Fish](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhwcEvMJz1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhwcEvMJz1Y)
- stewbrew 5y ago
  You can grill watermelons, mix them with sheep cheese etc. Watermelons are so much more than just a sweet snack if that's what you mean by fruits in the culinary sense.
catlikesshrimp 5y ago
Corrected: "note: botanically watermelons, squashes, and cucumbers are all in the same family and are fruit, but culturally we use most of them as vegetables except for the watermelon"

KMnO4 5y ago

That is correct. Vegetable isn’t really a botanical word since you typically refer to the specific parts of the plant (eg root, bulb, leaves, flower, fruit, etc). Vegetable is just a catch-all to cover “parts of the plant we eat”. Fruits have a specific definition: the seed-bearing body of a plant produced by the ovary after flowering. I.e. if you have a flowering plant, the “fruit” is the part that contains the seeds.

gumby 5y ago
... And the watermelon, like all gourds, is one of them: a plant cultivated only for its fruit. That appears to be a bug in the blog post. Some plants, are eaten both ways (both the fruiting body and leaves or other body parts are consumed). With fungi we eat only the fruiting body, but nobody calls them “fruit” except in the superclass sense (“fruit of the land”)
- catlikesshrimp 5y ago
  We don't call them fruit, we call them mushroom. And they can't have fruits, as in pear tress or other angiosperm plants, because mushrooms aren't plants. The fruiting body, which is not fruit, doesn't have seeds. They have spores, I think.

uulu 5y ago

What does it mean: "to eat something as vegetable"?

silisili 5y ago
It's a very deep rabbit hole, but apparently, vegetables are eaten as a main course, and fruit as a dessert. I only even remember this because of an argument I had many years ago regarding whether a tomato was a vegetable or fruit. I chose the veggie side, but had no real evidence. Come to find out, after researching, the Supreme Court agreed. It's all rather silly, honestly, but have a read for yourself on the background and decision. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_v._Hedden
- memco 5y ago
  Another fun brain bender you can drop on people at your next dinner is that bananas and tomatoes are both berries but strawberries and blackberries are not.
  - anang 5y ago
    I think Wikipedia draws a good distinction here: culinary and botanical. So, banana is NOT berry in a culinary sense, and a strawberry is. Even if, botanically it’s the opposite. I think it’s an important distinction because people using the term “berry” almost always are using it in a culinary context and not a botanical context. No one wants a pie with fresh “aggregate accessory fruits”, just as much as no one would think it’s correct to call an eggplant tomato pie a dessert with “fresh berries”.
- geoduck14 5y ago
  >I only even remember this because of an argument I had many years ago regarding whether a tomato was a vegetable or fruit. I chose the veggie side, but had no real evidence. Come to find out, after researching, the Supreme Court agreed. Does anyone else remember when Congress told everyone that pizza was a vegetable? Haha. Good times.
  - coremoff 5y ago
    Without meaning to defend it too much, as I believe it's mostly a marketting/lobying thing... As I understand it, the issue was whether or not you could count a pizza towards your vegetable quota. The argument came down to the nutritional content of the tomato sauce on the pizza; nutritionally, this was very similar to the requirements for other things that can be classified as vegetables, and so one portion of pizza was deemed to also count as one portion of vegetables.

powersnail 5y ago

I think you are right. Vegetable has only a culinary definition, not a botanical one. And I don't think many people would classify watermelons as a vegetable, except that watermelon skins are sometimes used for cooking. On the other hand, watermelons are definitely fruits, in both the botanical and culinary sense. This is reminds me of this video: [No Such Thing As A Fish](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhwcEvMJz1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhwcEvMJz1Y)

stewbrew 5y ago
You can grill watermelons, mix them with sheep cheese etc. Watermelons are so much more than just a sweet snack if that's what you mean by fruits in the culinary sense.

catlikesshrimp 5y ago

Corrected: "note: botanically watermelons, squashes, and cucumbers are all in the same family and are fruit, but culturally we use most of them as vegetables except for the watermelon"