Berry Bad News

The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary...seeds are usually embedded in the flesh.

Gross, right?  Although I don't like the word 'flesh.' 

Actually...this means we have some good news and some bad news both.  Bad news first.  The berries you thought you were eating just now weren't actually berries.

Blackberries and raspberries are aggregate fruits (comprised of many drupelets - and no, that isn't a typo), while strawberries are apparently an "aggregate accessory fruit."  Mulberries are multiple fruits, not berries.  And furthermore, blueberries, cranberries, and even huckleberries are, according to botanists, are merely false or epigynous berries rather than true berries.

Now, the good news!  The fruit - and alleged veg - you were just eating may actually have been a berry.  Rejoice!  In alphabetical order, a list of true berries (according to those in the know): avocados, chili peppers, currants, eggplants, grapes, guavas, persimmons, and tomatoes...yep, not only is the tomato a fruit, they're actually a berry.  And what true berries actually have the word 'berry' in the title? Edible ones appear to include the barberry, gooseberry, nannyberry, and wolfberry...although some of these sound less than delicious, and obviously it's never a good idea to eat plant bits, berry or plain old fruit, if you aren't sure about what it is.  Oldest error in the book.