Bill Dowie, BA, MCPM, LEED-AP O+M Botanically Speaking: Getting to Know the Food We Eat Everyday Food is a wondrous life-giving thing. However, you may be surprised about how many parts of a plant we humans are actual consuming. You will see a short pictorial lecture on leaves, tubers, roots, stems, flowers, fruit, seeds, and more - all botanically related back to what we really are eating on our dinner plate. Plant Parts Based on the Manitoba Master Gardener Handbook | Oct 2008 Botany Basics Chapter Vegetative parts Sexual Reproductive parts TWO GROUP STRUCTURES Vegetative parts roots stems shoot buds leaves ROOTS tap fibrous tuberous STEMS – ON GROUND long (runners / stolons) strawberry compressed (crowns – root/stem interface) dandelions STEMS – ABOVE GROUND trunks spurs canes vines STEMS – BELOW GROUND rhizomes tubers – with (inter)nodes | eyes corms bulbs LEAVES scale (cataphylls) seed (cotyledons) spines & tendrils storage bracts BUDS leaf bud with embryonic leaves flower bud with embryonic flower parts Sexual Reproductive parts flower buds flowers seeds fruit Fruits https://scientiaandveritas.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/pomes- and-berries-and-drupes-oh-my/ Fleshy Simple (pome, drupe, berry), Aggregate, and Multiple Dry Simple (legumes, capsules, samaras, nuts) Dry simple fruits include: - dehiscent (follicle, legume, silique, capsule) - indehiscent (samara, achene, caryopsis, nut) Dehiscent: Ovary splits upon maturing o Follicle: Pod formed from a single carpel and splits on one side – milkweed, peony, magnolia o Legume: Pod from a leguminous plant (fixes own nitrogen for growth) – pea, bean, soya, peanut o Silique: Long pods from the mustard family and splits from both sides – fruits/seeds of the cabbage family (not the part we eat!) o Capsule: Pod formed from two carpels – brazil nut, horse chestnut, poppy, lily, Indehiscent: Ovary does not split upon maturing o Samara: Single seeded fruit with a flat and fibrous winged structure has formed over the ovary, to be carried by the wind – sycamore, elm seeds o Achene: Single seeded fruit – buckwheat, buttercup o Caryopsis: Single seeded fruit where the pericarp is fused to the seed – cereals, grass seeds o Nut: Hard fruit or shell encasing the seed – acorn, hazelnut, wallnut http://rsandss.blogspot.com/p/vegetables_18.html#t9HuXmlJmVVSBLVr.99 Now… It’s time to match these terms with some of the foods we eat Carrot – elongated tap-root Radish – elongated tap-root Sweet Potato– tuberous root (storage organ) Stem Nodes = ‘eyes’ (regular) Potato – underground stem - tuber Asparagus – enlarged succulent stem Cauliflower – proliferated stem Head Lettuce – unusually large terminal bud Brussels Sprouts – succulent axillary buds Globe Artichoke – basal portion of flower bud’s bracts Beats – roots, stems, leaves Broccoli – edible flower buds (+ stems and leaves) Leaf Lettuce – edible leaf blade Parsley – leaf blades + stems Celery – thick and succulent leaf petiole Onion – fleshy leaves, leaf bases, turnicate bulb Leeks – leaf blade and base Nasturtium – spicy flowers Apple – fleshy fruit (pome) Peach – fleshy fruit (drupe) Raspberry | Blackberry – fleshy fruit (aggregate) [one flower – many ovaries and pistils] Pineapple – fleshy fruit (multiple) [many flowers tightly compacted on a single structure] Tomato – fleshy fruit (true berry) entire pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy Rhubarb – thick and ‘fruity’ leaf petiole Peas – dry fruit [legumes] The shoots, which are the tender tips of the vines, including the leaves, stems, flower blossoms, and tendrils [stem structure], make the most fantastic and unexpected salad greens. They taste like peas, but with a wonderful grassy, green flavor that is all their own. Edible Gardening 101: How to Harvest Pea Shoots | Vegetarian Times www.vegetariantimes.com/blog/edible-gardening-101-how-to-harvest-pea-shoots Cabbage – unusually large terminal bud Variety of Beans – dry fruit (legumes) Peanuts – dry fruit [legumes] Walnut – dry fruit (true nut) Raisins – sun-dried (black) grapes - used to be a fleshy fruit (berries) - Cucumber – fleshy fruit (true berry) entire pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy Banana – fleshy fruit (true berry) entire pericarp (fruit wall) is fleshy Corn – fleshy fruit seeds are on the outside of fruit tissue – as opposed to other fruits (eg. apples, oranges, cucumbers) Poppy Seeds – dry fruit [capsules] Sunflower Seeds – dry fruit of the sunflower, Helianthus annuus Pumpkin Seeds – true seeds (dried), taken from inside the ‘guts’ of the fruit, pumpkin Pumpkin – fleshy fruit [gourds] The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree that is native to South Central Mexico, classified as a member of the flowering plant family Lauraceae. Avocado (aka alligator pear) additionally refers to Avocado – fleshy fruit the tree's fruit, which is botanically a large berry containing a single seed Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies produced by some fungi www.greatgrubclub.com/a-z-fruit- veg#.V9y_FRJRoT8 .