The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from fruits.

No single terminology really fits the enormous variety that is found among plant fruits. The term 'false fruit' (pseudocarp, accessory fruit) is sometimes applied to a fruit like the fig (a multiple-accessory fruit; see below) or to a plant structure that resembles a fruit but is not derived from a flower or flowers. Some gymnosperms, such as yew, have fleshy arils that resemble fruits and some junipers have berry-like, fleshy cones. The term "fruit" has also been inaccurately applied to the seed-containing female cones of many conifers.

Botanical and Culinary Fruit

Many true fruits, in a botanical sense, are treated as vegetables in cooking and food preparation because they are not sweet. These culinary vegetables include cucurbits (e.g., squash, pumpkin, and cucumber), tomatoes, peas, beans, corn, eggplant, and sweet pepper; some spices, such as allspice and chilies, are botanical fruits. Occasionally, though rarely, a culinary "fruit" is not a true fruit in the botanical sense. For example, rhubarb is often referred to as a fruit, because it is used to make sweet desserts such as pies, though only the petiole of the rhubarb plant is edible. In the culinary sense, a fruit is usually any sweet tasting plant product associated with seed(s), a vegetable is any savoury or less sweet plant product, and a nut any hard, oily, and shelled plant product.

Although a nut is a type of fruit, it is also a popular term for edible seeds, such as walnuts and pistachios. Technically, a cereal grain is a fruit termed a caryopsis. However, the fruit wall is very thin and fused to the seed coat so almost all of the edible grain is actually a seed. Therefore, cereal grains, such as corn, wheat and rice are better considered edible seeds, although some references list them as fruits. Edible gymnosperm seeds are often misleadingly given fruit names, e.g. pine nuts, ginkgo nuts, and juniper berries.

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Fruits of North American origin

Canada, Mexico, and the United States are home to a surprising number of edible plants; however, only three are commercially grown/known on a global scale (grapes, cranberries, and blueberries.) Many of the fruits below are still eaten locally as they have been for centuries and others are generating renewed interest by eco-friendly gardeners (less need for bug control) and chefs alike.

• American grape: North American species (e.g., Vitis labrusca; Vitaceae) and American-European hybrids are grown where grape (Vitis vinifera) is not hardy and are used as rootstocks.
• American Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum; Berberidaceae)
• American plum (Prunus americana; Rosaceae.
• American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana; Ebenaceae): Traditional for desserts and as dried fruit.
• Beach Plum (Prunus maritima; Rosaceae)
• Black cherry (Prunus serotina; Rosaceae very popular flavoring for pies, jams, and sweets.
• Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis or Rubus leucodermis; Rosaceae)
• Blueberry (Vaccinium, sect. Cyanococcus; Ericaceae)
• Buffaloberry (Shepherdia argenta; Elaeagnaceae), which grows wild in the prairies of Canada.
• Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana; Rosaceae)
• Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco; Chrysobalanaceae)
• Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus; Ericaceae)
• False-mastic (Mastichodendron foetidissimum; Sapotaceae)
• Florida strangler fig (Ficus aurea; Moraceae)
• Ground Plum (Astragalus caryocarpus; Fabaceae), also called Ground-plum milk-vetch.
• Eastern May Hawthorn (Crataegus aestivalis; Rosaceae, better known as mayhaw.)
• Huckleberry (Gaylussacia, Vaccinium; Ericaceae)
• Maypop (Passiflora incarnata; Passifloracae, traditionally a summer treat.)
• Pawpaw (Asimina triloba; Annonaceae, not to be confused with Papaya (Carica papaya; Caricaceae), which is called pawpaw in some English dialects)
• Prickly pear (Opuntia spp.; Cactaceae) used as both a fruit and vegetable depending on part of plant.
• Red mulberry (Morus rubra; Moraceae)
• Pigeon plum (Coccoloba diversifolia; Polygonaceae)
• Salal berry (Gaultheria shallon; Ericaceae)
• Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis; Rosaceae)
• Saskatoonberry (Amerlanchier alnifolia, Rosaceae)
• Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens; Arecaceae)
• Southern crabapple (Malus angustifola; Rosaceae)
• Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana; Ebenaceae)
• Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus; Rosaceae)
• Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia; Rosaceae)

Read More in Wikipedia "List of Culinary Fruits" »