Examining ATI Wisdom Booklets: Booklet 5 – Science – How Wheat Grows

A small part of me died because I read that paragraph. I am a botanist by training. I love plants and I adore plant classification. Absolutely nothing in the first two paragraphs is correct.
- The wheat grains we eat are fruits because the botanical definition of a fruit is the mature ovary and associated seeds found in flowering plants. This is known as the botanical definition.
  - If you want to go all full-frontal nerdy, the fruits of plants in the Grass Family (Poaceae) are known as a caryopsis or multiple caryopses.
- All seed-bearing plants HAVE fruits, not ARE fruits. For example, the stalk of a corn plant, the trunk of an oak tree and the leaves of an apples tree are not fruits; the corn grain, acorn and apple are fruits.
- In addition to the botanical definition, there is the culinary definition of fruits and vegetables. Tomatoes, squash and string beans are fruits in the botanical definition and vegetables in the culinary definition.
- Not every culinary vegetable is a fruit. All of the cabbage family members (cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, rutabaga), all of the root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets etc.) and all of the greens (lettuce, collards, spinach, Swiss chard, mustard etc.) are vegetative parts of the plant in the botanical sense and vegetables in the culinary sense.
- Vegetables are not all annual plants. Asparagus is an perennial plant that is a vegetable. Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes are also perennials that are vegetables.
- Fruits are not all perennial plants. Ground cherries need to be replanted yearly.
- Don’t refer to anything as a “vegetable fruit”. Those are two different classes in both the botanical and culinary naming systems.

Go back Continue Reading