Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: Steve Marshall on 04/04/2011 21:30:02

Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: Steve Marshall on 04/04/2011 21:30:02
Steve Marshall asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?

What do you think?
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: CliffordK on 05/04/2011 00:45:55
I would call it a vegetable. 

We eat the sweet stuff around seeds for fruits.
With Rhubarb, we eat the stems of the plant in much the same way we eat celery. 
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: Geezer on 05/04/2011 08:55:43

I we eat the stems of the plant in much the same way we eat celery. 


That means tomatoes must be a fruit, but where does it leave potatoes? That's what I want to know.
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: RD on 05/04/2011 09:14:48
... but where does it leave potatoes?

Tuba Tuber (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Tuber)
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: rosy on 05/04/2011 10:06:59
Tomato, apple, rhubarb, potato, it's all "vegetable matter". So I'd say that "fruit" and "tuber" are subcategories of "vegetable". Rhubarb is neither "fruit" nor "tuber" and thus I guess I'd call it a "vegetable" and leave it at that. Well, I'd prefer to call it "dessert", but if it's someone else's rhubarb I guess that's a non-option.
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: Geezer on 05/04/2011 18:31:55
What about mushrooms then? Would they be a sort of fruit?
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: CliffordK on 05/04/2011 19:11:40
What about mushrooms then? Would they be a sort of fruit?

Only the Psilocybin Mushrooms!!!!
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: Geezer on 05/04/2011 19:40:48
What about mushrooms then? Would they be a sort of fruit?

Only the Psilocybin Mushrooms!!!!

Woah! The colors man! But mushrooms are a sort of fruit.   
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: rosy on 06/04/2011 10:04:11
Quote
What about mushrooms then? Would they be a sort of fruit?

Not by my reckoning, they're fungi... a whole seperate kingdom (like the animal kingdom, or the plant kingdom) so I would say that they were not vegetables, but something completely different. But that's because I reckon if we're going in for the is-it-a-fruit style pedantry (and not because you're hoping it will produce seeds to grow on), then further pedantry is fair game.

Besides, this is a science forum, and the fact that the descent of fungi is at least as different from plants as from animals is rather interesting.
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: Geezer on 06/04/2011 19:21:33
Quote
What about mushrooms then? Would they be a sort of fruit?

Not by my reckoning, they're fungi... a whole seperate kingdom (like the animal kingdom, or the plant kingdom) so I would say that they were not vegetables, but something completely different. But that's because I reckon if we're going in for the is-it-a-fruit style pedantry (and not because you're hoping it will produce seeds to grow on), then further pedantry is fair game.

Besides, this is a science forum, and the fact that the descent of fungi is at least as different from plants as from animals is rather interesting.

As I understand it, the mushroom thingy is only a means of spreading spores when the invisible part of the organism has sort of run out of room to expand underground. That's why I was suggestiong it could be considered a sort of fruit.

I cite Wikipedia -

"A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus,"
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: JimBob on 06/04/2011 23:19:54
That is a nice try Geezer, too bad you are grabbing at straws.

Rhubarb is a flowering plant, as are potatoes and tomatoes. Mushroom never have flowers.

AND --- if you read just two words on in the Wiki definition of mushrooms it says (fruiting body..."of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. Like all fungi, mushrooms are not plants and do not undergo photosynthesis."

I guess that is the whiskey in your mother's milk. The levels are still not down to "normal" in your body even then it is a couple of years between now since your separation from her placenta and/or teat.
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: neilep on 07/04/2011 00:18:16
Less talk !...Just eat !


Rhubarb is neither fruit nor vegetable !!.........It's dessert !!

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Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: Geezer on 07/04/2011 00:19:45
That is a nice try Geezer, too bad you are grabbing at straws.

Rhubarb is a flowering plant, as are potatoes and tomatoes. Mushroom never have flowers.

AND --- if you read just two words on in the Wiki definition of mushrooms it says (fruiting body..."of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. Like all fungi, mushrooms are not plants and do not undergo photosynthesis."

I guess that is the whiskey in your mother's milk. The levels are still not down to "normal" in your body even then it is a couple of years between now since your separation from her placenta and/or teat.


Oh, that's right. I forgot you're in Texas. The state where they think ground beef and chicken are vegetables that you eat with steak.
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: JimBob on 07/04/2011 01:59:55
That is a nice try Geezer, too bad you are grabbing at straws.

Rhubarb is a flowering plant, as are potatoes and tomatoes. Mushroom never have flowers.

AND --- if you read just two words on in the Wiki definition of mushrooms it says (fruiting body..."of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. Like all fungi, mushrooms are not plants and do not undergo photosynthesis."

I guess that is the whiskey in your mother's milk. The levels are still not down to "normal" in your body even then it is a couple of years between now since your separation from her placenta and/or teat.


Oh, that's right. I forgot you're in Texas. The state where they think ground beef and chicken are vegetables that you eat with steak.

NO, No, No. You are thinking about rattlesnake,, fer cripes sake!
Title: Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Post by: Geezer on 07/04/2011 02:21:15
I know it's not very nice to embarrass friends, but I have to tell you about the time I took JimBob to a fancy-smanshy steak house.

When the head waiter asked JimBob how he would like his steak, JimBob's response was,

"Jess sawr off the horns, and clean up the ass."