Squeeze the Day!
How many seeds does a strawberry have?
A) 50
B) 400
C) 200
200
The average strawberry has about 200 seeds. It's the only fruit that bears its seeds on the outside.
Which berry isn't a berry?
A) Cranberry
B) Strawberry
C) Gooseberry
Strawberry
The strawberry is not, from a botanical point of view, a berry. It is derived from a single flower with more than one ovary, making it an aggregate fruit.
Which fruit looks like an inside-out strawberry?
A) Farkleberry
B) Cloudberry
C) Pineberry
Pineberry
When ripe, a pineberry is almost completely white, but with red seeds. It is a mix of two species of strawberries, and its taste contains a hint of pineapple.
Which plant produces a fruit that looks like eyeballs?
A) White Baneberry
B) Lookie-Loo
C) Shadbush
White Baneberry
The most striking feature of white baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) is its fruit, a white berry whose size, shape, and black stigma scar give the species its other common name, "doll's eyes".
How many apple leaves does it take to produce one apple?
A) 20
B) 100
C) 50
50
Although it is actually the surface area of the leaves that matters rather than the number, it has been estimated that it takes the photosynthetic energy from 50 apple leaves to produce one apple.
What is the only apple native to North America?
A) Granny Smith
B) Crabapples
C) Honeycrisp
Crabapples
Crabapples preceded European colonists to America, but the fruit was not very edible. Other varieties were brought by settlers in the 1600s.
What are the chief natural pollinator of pineapples?
A) Hummingbirds
B) Bats
C) Bees
Hummingbirds
In the wild, pineapples are pollinated primarily by hummingbirds, although certain wild pineapples are foraged and pollinated at night by bats. Under cultivation, because seed development diminishes fruit quality, pollination is performed by hand, and seeds are retained only for breeding. In Hawaii, where pineapples were cultivated and canned industrially throughout the 20th century, importation of hummingbirds was prohibited.
What do you call a cluster of bananas?
A) Hand
B) Bunch
C) Clan
Hand
A cluster of bananas is called a hand and consists of 10 to 20 bananas known as fingers.
Which fruit is susceptible to Panama disease?
A) Cherry
B) Coconut
C) Bananas
Bananas
During the 1950s, an outbreak of Panama disease almost wiped out the commercial production of Gros Michel bananas, the dominant cultivar. The outbreak inflicted enormous costs on the industry and forced producers to switch to other, disease-resistant cultivars. Currently, a new outbreak threatens the production of today's most popular cultivar, the Cavendish.
Where was the first garden strawberry bred?
A) France
B) Mexico
C) Greece
France
The garden strawberry was first bred in Brittany, France, in the 1750s via a cross of Fragaria virginiana from eastern North America and Fragaria chiloensis, which was brought from Chile by Amédée-François Frézier in 1714. Prior to this, wild strawberries and cultivated selections from wild strawberry species were the common source of the fruit.
Which fruit has the most vitamin C?
A) Guava
B) Orange
C) Strawberry
Guava
Guavas contain 377 mg of vitamin C per cup, followed by kiwifruit (167 mg), strawberries (98 mg), and oranges (96 mg).
What is the science of fruit growing called?
A) Pomology
B) Fromology
C) Dendrology
Pomology
The goals of pomology include enhancement of fruit quality, regulation of production periods, and reduction of production cost.
Apples are from which family of plants?
A) Cabbage Family
B) Rose Family
C) Potato Family
Rose Family
Rosaceae, the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes many edible fruits (such as apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, and cherries.)
Which fruit is illegal to eat in some countries while using public transportation?
A) Mangosteen
B) Durian
C) Anaar
Durian
Due to its overpowering smell--which has been described as rotten onions, turpentine, or raw sewage--durian consumption is banned on many types of public transport across Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong.
How long can banana leaves grow?
A) 25 Feet
B) 20 Feet
C) 16 Feet
16 Feet
While all banana leaves are large, the leaves of the Musa ingens banana put other varieties to shame, reaching lengths of 16 feet (5 meters) and widths of 39 inches (1 meter).
Which fruit bounces like a ball when ripe?
A) Cherries
B) Cranberries
C) Grapes
Cranberries
When ripe, cranberries have tiny air pockets inside, which allow them to bounce. The higher a cranberry bounces, the better the cranberry.
Which fruit tastes like chocolate pudding?
A) Fruit of the Hala Aka Puhala Tree
B) Cherimoya
C) Black Sapote
Black Sapote
The black sapote is a smooth, chocolate pudding-like persimmon fruit. It can be eaten plain as a dessert and contains around 4 times as much vitamin C as a typical orange.
How many sexes of papaya plants are there?
A) 3
B) 1
C) 0
3
Papaya plants grow in three sexes: male, female, and hermaphrodite. The male produces only pollen, never fruit. The female produces small, inedible fruits unless pollinated. The hermaphrodite can self-pollinate since its flowers contain both male stamens and female ovaries. Most commercial papaya orchards contain only hermaphrodites.
What is the most widely grown grape?
A) Concord
B) Kyoho
C) Muscat
Kyoho
As of 2015, Kyoho was the world's most cultivated grape variety by land area (365000ha). More than 90% of these vines are located in China. Kyoho grapes are blackish-purple, or almost black, with large seeds. While the seeds are bitter and the skin is not traditionally eaten, the flesh is juicy with high sugar content and mild acidity.
On which continent did bananas originate?
A) Australia
B) Asia
C) Europe
Asia
Generally, it is agreed that bananas originated in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific around 8000 to 5000 BC. Bananas are believed to have been the world's first cultivated fruit.
Which fruit looks and tastes like meat?
A) Rambutan
B) Jackfruit
C) Black Sapote
Jackfruit
Jackfruit, a popular meat alternative because of its meaty texture, tastes a lot like pulled pork.
Which fruit is a hybrid of the pomelo and mandarin?
A) Lime
B) Kumquat
C) Orange
Orange
The orange is not a wild fruit, having arisen in domestication from a cross between a non-pure mandarin orange and a hybrid pomelo that had a substantial mandarin component.
How much did the world's largest apple weigh?
A) 2 LBS
B) 12 LBS
C) 4 LBS
4 LBS
A Hokuto apple that weighed in at 4 lbs. 1 oz. was discovered by Chisato Iwasaki in Hirosaki City, Japan on Oct. 24, 2005, making it the largest apple ever recorded.
Who introduced bananas to the Western world?
A) Christopher Columbus
B) Marco Polo
C) Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great
In 327 BC, when Alexander the Great and his army invaded India, he discovered banana crops in the Indian Valleys. After tasting this unusual fruit for the first time, he introduced his new discovery to the Western world.
A strawberry was the symbol of which Roman God?
A) Juno
B) Venus
C) Diana
Venus
The strawberry was a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shape and bright red color. Legend has it that if you break a double strawberry in half and share it with someone, you will fall in love.