"Berry Berry quite contrary"

     Almost everyone loves some kind of berry. Be it blueberries, cranberries, or even grapes, tons of berries are eaten every year. However the term berry can be misleading as some things that are called berries are not, and some that we wouldn't think of as berries, are.

     The official definition of berry is, "a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary". While most "berries" meet this definition, there are some, such as the blackberry, raspberry and the mulberry, that do not. There are five categories of berries that are not berries.

     The first category is the drupes. Drupes are, "fruits produced from a (usually) single-seeded ovary with a hard stony layer (called the endocarp) surrounding the seed". Examples of this category are the olive, the plum, the peach, and the bayberry.

     The next group is the pomes. While the larger pomes, pears and apples, are never called berries, some of the smaller ones, such as juneberries, carry that name.

     The third group of non-berries are the aggregate fruits, which is a fruit that "develops from the merger of several ovaries that were separate in a single flower". Prime examples of these are the blackberry and the raspberry.

     The fourth group are what is called multiple fruits. Multiple fruits, are, "the fruits of multiple flowers that are merged or packed closely together." The mulberry is one big example of this group.

     The final group of "non-berry" berries are the accessory fruits. These fruits are not made from the ovary, but from other parts of the plant. The biggest example of this is the strawberry.

     As for the berries that we wouldn't think of as berries, believe it or not, bananas, pumpkins and watermelons are all considered berries. I guess that goes to show you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover or a fruit by it's name or size.












1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry#Not_a_botanical_berry
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggregate_fruit