Botany

Eric Nielsen ericbarnak at GMAIL.COM
Mon Feb 8 10:47:19 UTC 2010


Ooops, that was supposed to be "Apple Drupe", of course.

Eric

On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 5:25 AM, Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Botany
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My most-at-hand reference defines a drupe:
>
> "A fleshy, indehiscent fruit with a stony endocarp surrounding a usually
> single seed, as in a peach or cherry."  p.32
>
> and a pome:
>
> "A fleshy, indehiscent fruit derived from an inferior, compound ovary,
> consisting of a modified floral tube surrounding a core, as in an apple."
> p.76
>
> Both quotes are from:
>
> "Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary"
> James G. Harris and Melinda Woolf Harris, 1994
> Spring Lake Publishing, Payson, UT
> 0-9640221-5-X
>
>
> This may be much more illuminating and--to the point:
>
> http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081124212127AAkXQtL
>
> Yes, I find Apple Pome to be a very strange name, indeed.
>
> Cherries, Peaches, Apples--and of course Roses are all in the same plant
> family, Rosaceae, (not the skin disease), and do strongly resemble one
> another once you've spent some time with them.
>
> Eric
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 3:25 PM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Botany
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I am confused. I always thought a drupe was the correct term for
> > single-seed non-nut "nuts", like the pistachio, which in some cases have
> > swollen stalks that look a lot like apples, as with the cashew.
> >
> > DanG
> >
> > On 2/7/2010 3:09 PM, Bill Palmer wrote:
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> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Bill Palmer<w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> > > Subject:      Re: Botany
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > I stand corrected.  A too hasty glance @ Dictionary.com on a word that
> I
> > > didn't know, but many others apparently do..
> > >
> > > But that makes the street name even weirder, if an apple isn't
> classified
> > as
> > > "drupe", n'est-ce pas?
> > >
> >
>
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