Is pumpkin or squash a fruit or a vegetable?

Jeeves

Encyclopdeia Britannica says: In its strict botanical sense, the fleshy or dry ripened ovary of a plant, enclosing the seed or seeds. Thus, apricots, bananas, and grapes, as well as bean pods, corn grains, tomatoes, cucumbers, and (in their shells) acorns and almonds, are all technically fruits. Popularly, however, the term is restricted to the ripened ovaries that are sweet and either succulent or pulpy. The cultivation and processing of fruits are major industries worldwide. This seems to say that strictly it's a fruit, but by common usage it is a vegetable. Feb 16 02, 2:54 PM

Jeeves

Just to be a completist, this is what Britannica says of vegetables: in the broadest sense, any kind of plant life or plant product, namely 'vegetable matter'; in common, narrow usage, the term vegetable usually refers to the fresh edible portion of a herbaceous plant--roots, stems, leaves, flowers, or fruit. These plant parts are either eaten fresh or prepared in a number of ways. Feb 16 02, 3:01 PM

Brainy Blonde

Botanically, the difference between fruits and vegetables lies in the part of the plant we eat, not in how we use them as food. Fruits come from the ripened ovary of a flowering plant. What we eat is the fleshy covering surrounding the seed or seeds. Vegetables come from the other edible parts of the plant -- the roots, stem, and leaves. See for more details: http://www.nutrition.cornell.edu/nutriquest/070599/fruitveg.html You can read about a discussion on fruits and vegetable at: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/teach/msg011956409905.html What's the difference between fruits and vegetables? For the lengthy answer see: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mveggie.html Fruits are or contain seeds, they develop from the ovaries. Nuts, olives, tomatoes, peas and runner beans are all examples of fruits, as well as the obvious ones like apples, oranges and grapes. Vegetables are non-seed containing plant matter. They include leaves, such as cabbage, lettuce or watercress; roots, e.g. carrots or beetroot; bulbs, like onions, and tubers such as potatoes. See: http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/Biology/9608/b00616d.html Feb 16 02, 4:55 PM

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