Most food plants are not long-lived trees, but relatively small, delicate plants that produce their seeds and die in one growing season This herbaceous habit gives plants greater flexibility in adapting to changing conditions, and it has worked to our advantage as well It allows us to grow crops to maturity in a few months, change plantings from year to year, rapidly breed new varieties, and eat plant parts that would be inedible were they toughened to endure for years Herbaceous plants became widespread only in the last few million years, just as the human species was emerging They made possible our rapid cultural development, and we in turn have used selection and breeding to direct their biological development We and our food plants have been partners in each other’s evolution Definitions We group the foods we obtain from plants into several loose categories Fruit and Vegetable Apart from such plant seeds as wheat and rice, which are described in chapter 9, the most prominent plant foods in our diet are fruits and vegetables Vegetable took on its current sense just a few centuries ago, and essentially means a plant material that is neither fruit nor seed So what is a fruit? The word has both a technical and a common meaning Beginning in the 17th century, botanists defined it as the organ that develops from the flower’s ovary and surrounds the plant’s seeds But in common usage, seed-surrounding green beans, eggplants, cucumbers, and corn kernels are called vegetables, not fruits Even the United States Supreme Court has preferred the cook’s definition over the botanist’s In the 1890s, a New York food importer claimed duty-free status for a shipment of tomatoes, arguing that ... a technical and a common meaning Beginning in the 17th century, botanists defined it as the organ that develops from the flower’s ovary and surrounds the plant’s seeds But in common usage, seed-surrounding... cucumbers, and corn kernels are called vegetables, not fruits Even the United States Supreme Court has preferred the cook’s definition over the botanist’s In the 1890s, a New York food importer...We group the foods we obtain from plants into several loose categories Fruit and Vegetable Apart from such plant seeds as wheat and rice, which are described in chapter 9, the most prominent plant foods