Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Xylocarps

Here's a random food fact for the day. An xylocarp is a plant that bears a fruit with a woody outer shell, such as a coconut. I discovered this while trying to come up with an X word for today's post. This got me wondering whether or not there were other xylocarps that we eat on a daily basis.

After a bit of research, I discovered that several fruits could technically fall into this description, such as watermelons and pumpkins.

Anyways, I thought it was interesting.

Photo by Robert Wetzlmayr

4 comments:

  1. You learn something new everyday...my alternative food knowledge is limited to the fact that a tomato is a fruit instead of a vegetable.

    Z to A Challenge
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  2. Well I learned something new today too. I can see where the coconut fits the definition, but think it odd that the watermelon and pumpkin would too. I wonder if it's because of the thickness of the outer covering, or that we don't eat it (like we would an apple or pear)?

    I’m hosting Z to A in May, but I’m blogging at: Ross County Roundup

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  3. I was always told that watermelons and pumpkins were types of squashes, so are squashes xylocarps? And, we can eat the rind of the watermelon. My mother used to pickle them. Not sure if the same is true for pumpkins.

    Stopping by from the Z to A in May Challenge. You can find me at:
    The Frustrated Foodie

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  4. Huh, I learned a new word today: xylocarp. Thanks for improving my scramble game.

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