Think you know your fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds? How well do you actually know them?
We all know that apples grow on trees and potatoes come up from the ground. But you probably never knew how your favorite nuts and exotic fruits came to be.
We’ve gathered a list of the nuts, seeds, fruits and veggies with the most unusual origins.
1) Capers
Capers grow on a vine of pretty white flowers. They are the unopened buds of the flowers.
2) Sesame Seeds
Sesame seeds come from sprouts plants that grow straight up and tall out of the ground inside of little pods known as “buds.”
3) Pineapples
These come from crazy spikey looking bushes that grow out of the ground. The fruit comes from the middle of the plant.
4) Brussel Sprouts
Brussel sprouts are a member of the Germmifera group of cabbages and grow from a leafy green plant that is about 2.5 to 4 cm in diameter. They grow in a cluster and look like little cabbages.
5) Artichokes
Artichokes come from big pretty purple flower with feathery tops.
6) Pistachios
Pistachios grow in clusters on trees. It usually takes seven to ten years for these trees to get significant production with peak production being reached around 20 years. The pistachios are then dried and dry roasted or processed in machines. They kind of look like mangoes.
7) Peanuts
Peanuts look like pretty little yellow wildflowers when they grow out of the ground but when you pull those flowers up their roots reveal the little bulbous nuts.
8) Vanilla Bean
Vanilla bean is also a flowering plant with white flowers. The plant produces long pods that are treated and dried.
9) Kiwi
Kiwis also start out as flowers that hang on a vine and grow along trellises. The flower turns into kiwis that hang down until they are ready to be harvested.
10) Cashews
Cashews are super weird looking. They grow on trees that produce cashew apples, then the nuts grow out of the apples.
11) Almonds
Almonds grow off of flowering trees. The little flowers turn into pods and inside those pods are almonds.
12) Saffron
Saffron comes from exquisitely beautiful bright purple flowers. The saffron stems come out of the middle of the flowers that are just pulled out of the flower.
13) Cinnamon
I had no idea that cinnamon is dried tree bark.
14) Cranberries
Cranberries grow off of evergreen dwarf shrubs that bear flowers that become the little pieces of fruit.
15) Cacao
Source: Wikipedia
Cacao, which is what chocolate is, is grown on a tree that produces giant pods. The cacao beans are found inside these pods.
16) Avocado
It’s every healthy foodie’s favorite breakfast staple, but do you know where avocados come from? Botanically, they’re considered extra-large berries, with a large seed that’s surrounded by the fruit that we eat.
17) Papaya
Papayas grow from a tree and look just like bananas when they’re sprouting from the branches. The papaya tree itself is native to Central America and can reach up to 30 meters in height.
18) Dates
If you saw a date tree from afar, you might think it had been taken up residence by several clusters of bees. It’s just the dates, though, which grow in a bird’s nest formation.
19) Asparagus
You’d think Asparagus hung from a tree, but it actually grows straight up from the ground. There’s something a bit sinister about seeing it poking out of the soil like witches’ fingers.
20) Quinoa
While you wouldn’t guess that these flowers were anything special, they actually house the seeds that are used to make quinoa. Who’d’ve thought?
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
