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Fact #4

Bananas Are Berries

Strawberries aren't berries, but bananas are

Justin Lee, Dumb Game Lab ·

Bananas Are Berries
Photo: Wilfredor, CC0
Short answer In botany, bananas and tomatoes are berries, while strawberries and raspberries are not.

In botany, a banana is a berry. That puts it on the same team as blueberries.

YauWait, a banana is a berry?

BERRYa fruit that grows from one flower, with its seeds inside the flesh

In botany, being a berry has nothing to do with the name. If it grows from one flower, is soft all the way through, and has its seeds tucked in the flesh, it's a berry.

So grapes, tomatoes, eggplants and cucumbers are berries too. The bananas we eat have almost no seeds that can sprout, but the fruit is still built like a berry.

Strawberries, on the other hand, aren't berries.
Photo: atramos, CC BY 2.0

Strawberries, on the other hand, aren't berries. Each of those tiny dots on the outside is a fruit of its own, with a real seed inside.

The red part we eat is the base that held up the flower, swollen up.

YauIt has berry in its name and it's not a berry?

Raspberries aren't berries either. They're lots of tiny fruits clumped together.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia: Berry (botany)
  2. Wikipedia: Strawberry
  3. Wikipedia: Banana

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