While most people think of strawberries as berries, they are technically aggregate fruits, or false fruits, because they develop from multiple ovaries. Each seed on a strawberry is actually an ovary. Bananas, on the other hand, are true berries as they develop from a single ovary and have a fleshy middle, a peel, and seeds inside.
The confusion between the common and botanical names for fruits arises from the fact that people have been naming fruits for thousands of years, long before botanists came up with a precise definition. Even today, botanists sometimes disagree on the exact classification of some fruits, and the criteria for defining berries and fruits differ between common language and botanical language.
More examples of false fruits:
- Apples: The thalamus of the apple is the edible part of the fruit.
- Pears: A pome fruit, like apples, with a tough outer layer and a fleshy core.
- Cashews: The cashew apple is the false fruit, while the cashew nut is the true fruit.
- Pineapples: A multiple fruit formed when many unpollinated flowers fuse together.
- Watermelons: A Cucurbitaceae plant that produces a false berry.
- Pumpkins: A Cucurbitaceae plant that produces a false berry.
- Zucchinis: A Cucurbitaceae plant that produces a false berry.
- Gooseberries: A Ribes plant that produces a false berry
