Strawberry shortcake. Raspberry torte. Blackberry cobbler… all berry-filled dishes sure to delight. Or disappoint. Botanically speaking, the “berries” in these delectables are not actually berries.

The grapes used to make wine or champagne, however, are berries—as are watermelons and even chilli peppers.

Stumped?

Berries are fruits that develop from a flower with one single ovary and consist of three distinct layers: an outer skin (the exocarp), a fleshy middle (the mesocarp), and a centre filled with seeds (the endocarp).

Whether we are talking true berries or not, researchers are continually uncovering intriguing insights from the world of berries. Here are three:

1. In the Arctic, the further north you go the more productive berry plants can be

Berries and berry picking hold significant cultural importance for Indigenous Peoples living in the Canadian Arctic, providing physical, mental, and community wellbeing.

“When you do plant ecology in the Canadian Arctic, people always ask ‘how are the berries doing?’. ‘Are they growing well?’ Is it a good year for berries?’ It is the main plant that people are interested in,” Dr Noémie Boulanger-Lapointe, a post-doc at the University of Iceland, shares. Based on lifelong observations and knowledge of local environs, some Indigenous local knowledge holders are reporting a new trend; berry abundance is declining and becoming more variable from one year to the next. In a study published in Arctic Science, Boulanger-Lapointe and colleagues explored some of the climatic and environmental factors that influence the number of berries a plant produces (or productivity).

Read the full story over at Canadian Science Publishing.