Is a banana a berry? Yes, botanically it is, and a strawberry is not.

• ✓Botanical definition of a berry (single ovary, seeds in flesh)
• ✓Strawberry is an accessory fruit — the flesh is receptacle tissue and the 'seeds' are achenes

What if everything you assumed about fruits was completely wrong? The strawberry you call a berry — isn't one. And the banana you've never once called a berry — actually is. A banana is botanically a berry while a strawberry is not, because a true berry develops from a single ovary with its seeds embedded in the flesh. A banana grows from one single ovary, and its tiny seeds are buried deep inside that soft flesh — that's the botanical definition ticked off perfectly. A strawberry, on the other hand, grows from a flower with many separate ovaries, making it an accessory fruit — and those little yellow dots on the outside aren't embedded in flesh at all, they're the actual fruits themselves. So next time someone hands you a strawberry, remember: you're holding a cluster of tiny fruits, not a berry.