• Question: why do raspberries have funny little things on them! its hard to explain but they're like smallr ed little seeedy thuings!

    Asked by rarr to Meeks, Pete, Stephen, Steve, Tom on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Marieke Navin

      Marieke Navin answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      I don;t know! it’s just part of being raspberries I guess, part of how they reproduce…we’ll have to ask a biologist

    • Photo: Stephen Curry

      Stephen Curry answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      Hey rarr – raspberries are one of my favourite fruits. I’m not a great cook by any means but one of the few dishes that I can make is raspberry pavlova (earns me lots of points with my mother-in-law!)

      So you’d think I’d know more about raspberries… but I had to look it up. (Wikipedia may not be 100% accurate but it’s a great source of information nonetheless!).

      It’s fascinating – you know how each raspberry looks a bit like a tiny bunch of grapes – like a collection of bulges? Each one of these little bulges is a drupelet and contains a single seed – so a raspberry has lots of seeds (though I’ve never really noticed the seeds when I’m munching on pavlova).

      Is that what you were looking for? Cool question – thanks for introducing me to drupelets!

    • Photo: Tom Hartley

      Tom Hartley answered on 20 Jun 2010:

      Hi Rarr,

      This is a tricky question. I think I know the bits you mean – they’re outside the main fruit and a bit gritty/hairy. I couldn’t find the answer for sure, but I think they are the shrivelled stamens (male parts) of the flower.

    • Photo: Steve Roser

      Steve Roser answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      They are small and seedy, because they are small seeds….

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