Hello to all olive and plum experts, can someone please help me with a
small problem that I am having?

Is an olive a type of plum?

The definition of plum is "any of numerous varieties of small to
medium-sized round or oval smooth-skinned fruit with a single pit"
this seems to account for olives as well.

can any one comment on this?

Thanks
Mathew

Mathew wrote:
:: Hello to all olive and plum experts, can someone please help me
:: with a small problem that I am having?
::
:: Is an olive a type of plum?
::
:: The definition of plum is "any of numerous varieties of small to
:: medium-sized round or oval smooth-skinned fruit with a single pit"
:: this seems to account for olives as well.
::
:: can any one comment on this?
::
:: Thanks
:: Mathew

They are 'drupes' !

A drupe is any fruit which contains a single seed, peach, olive, cherry,
plum and apricot to name a few...see he
http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/drupes

and plums, along with nectarines and peaches, olives and mangoes are all
part of the same family : Prunus, so you could say that they are indeed
related...see this page for more details:
http://www.fact-index.com/d/dr/drupe.html


HTH

Although I'm not an expert in anything :-p

In article , Phil L
writes

They are 'drupes' !

A drupe is any fruit which contains a single seed, peach, olive, cherry,
plum and apricot to name a few...see he
http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/drupes

and plums, along with nectarines and peaches, olives and mangoes are all
part of the same family : Prunus, so you could say that they are indeed
related...see this page for more details:
http://www.fact-index.com/d/dr/drupe.html


Correction: Olives are not botanically related to plums.

Olives are in the Oleaceae family of about 20 species of plants native
to Mediterranean and similar climates, of which O.Europeaea is commonly
used for olive production.

Plums are in the wide ranging Prunus family which includes nectarines,
peaches, cherries, almonds, apricots etc., but not olives or mangoes.

Although I'm not an expert in anything :-p

Try studying a little taxonomy.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

"Mathew" wrote in message
om...
Hello to all olive and plum experts, can someone please help me with a
small problem that I am having?

Is an olive a type of plum?

The definition of plum is "any of numerous varieties of small to
medium-sized round or oval smooth-skinned fruit with a single pit"
this seems to account for olives as well.

can any one comment on this?

Thanks
Mathew

Botanists are more interested in the sexy bits!! its the flowers that tell
them a plum belongs to the Rosacea and the Olive to the Oleaceae so not
related at all.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

(Mathew) wrote in message . com...
Hello to all olive and plum experts, can someone please help me with a
small problem that I am having?

Is an olive a type of plum?

The definition of plum is "any of numerous varieties of small to
medium-sized round or oval smooth-skinned fruit with a single pit"
this seems to account for olives as well.

can any one comment on this?

Look a bit harder at the definition: it says a plum is "...any of
numerous species of...". That = "...any one of a number of
species...". This is different from "...any species of..."

What it means is that there are a lot of different species of stone
fruit which can all be called plums, but not that all stone fruit are
plums!

I agree it's not be instantly clear to anybody who isn't constantly
reading 'dictionary-ese', so perhaps they could have done better for
the layman.

Mike.

In article , Phil L
writes

and plums, along with nectarines and peaches, olives and mangoes are all
part of the same family : Prunus, so you could say that they are indeed
related...see this page for more details:
http://www.fact-index.com/d/dr/drupe.html

Ahem!!!

1) Prunus is not a family. It is a genus within the rose family Rosaceae

2) Olives are in a different family altogether - Oleaceae

3) and mangoes are in yet a third family

So you could say they were all related .... but about as closely as they
are to cacti, dandelions and carrots ;-)

Although I'm not an expert in anything :-p


I couldn't possibly comment ;-)

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article , Mathew
writes
Hello to all olive and plum experts, can someone please help me with a
small problem that I am having?

Is an olive a type of plum?

The definition of plum is "any of numerous varieties of small to
medium-sized round or oval smooth-skinned fruit with a single pit"
this seems to account for olives as well.

That is a dictionary definition. It doesn't mean *any*
"medium-sized round or oval smooth-skinned fruit with a single pit"

it means, as it says, any of "*numerous* *varieties* of
medium-sized round or oval smooth-skinned fruit with a single pit"

It doesn't define the numerous varieties, but basically they are all
varieties of particular species of Prunus.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 12:18:06 +0100, Kay
wrote:

Ahem!!!

1) Prunus is not a family. It is a genus within the rose family Rosaceae
2) Olives are in a different family altogether - Oleaceae

3) and mangoes are in yet a third family
Yes, the same one that contains the cashew nut (Anacardium), smoke
bush (Cotinus) , sumac (Rhus) and pepper tree (Schinus) - namely the
Anacardiaceae. I'm sure you all feel much better for knowing that :-)

So you could say they were all related .... but about as closely as they
are to cacti, dandelions and carrots ;-)

Just about sums it up really.

Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 12:18:06 +0100, Kay
wrote:

Ahem!!!

1) Prunus is not a family. It is a genus within the rose family Rosaceae
2) Olives are in a different family altogether - Oleaceae

3) and mangoes are in yet a third family
Yes, the same one that contains the cashew nut (Anacardium), smoke
bush (Cotinus) , sumac (Rhus) and pepper tree (Schinus) - namely the
Anacardiaceae. I'm sure you all feel much better for knowing that :-)

So you could say they were all related .... but about as closely as they
are to cacti, dandelions and carrots ;-)

Just about sums it up really.

Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November