Speaking in botanical terms, are nuts and grains considered fruit?

Question

I didn't think so myself... If you have a reference, that would be great if you could source it as I may need it for later.

Thanks

Answer 1

No...I,l try to get the reference ASAP..

Answer 2

ya they r considered as fruits as they r derived from carple of flower

Answer 3

Dry fruits include the legumes, cereal grains, capsules, and nuts.

Answer 4

Yes, they are considered fruits.

Anything that is derived from the carpel tissue of a flower (and generally contains one or more seeds) is a fruit.  Nuts and grains tend to have dry, stony carpels when mature.  What we usually think of as fruits in general tend to be fleshy or juicy when mature.  Ultimately, though, they all develop from the same flower parts.

Unfortunately, I don't have any great sources on this, but most biology textbooks that discuss plants (specifically angiosperms, the flowering plants) should contain information on fruit development and different categories of fruit.  Below are a couple Wikipedia articles, though, that have accurate descriptions of nuts as a type of fruit, and fruits in general.

Edit to add:

You're correct, there is a definite distinction between fruits and seeds, but the nuts and grains aren't seeds themselves.  This is really just a case of everyday language causing confusion.  When we speak casually about nuts and grains, we are describing either the seeds themselves, or the actual fruit.  Botanically speaking, though, the whole, unshelled or unskinned object is a fruit that contains one or more seeds.

If you take an unshelled walnut, for example, we call the whole fruit a nut in everyday conversation, as well as just the seed inside.  We might say we're eating a nut (the seed), or we're cracking open the nut (the fruit).  If we want to be technical, though, the whole, unshelled walnut with edible seed inside is the nut, a specific type of fruit.  What we're eating is the walnut seed.