A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Berries are typically juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet or sour, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, red currants, and blackcurrants. In Britain, soft fruit is a horticultural term for such fruits.
The scientific usage of the term "berry" differs from common usage. In scientific terminology, a berry is a fruit produced from the ovary of a single flower in which the outer layer of the ovary wall develops into an edible fleshy portion (pericarp). The definition includes many fruits that are not commonly known as berries, such as grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants (aubergines) and bananas. Fruits excluded by the botanical definition include strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, which are aggregate fruits, and mulberries, which are multiple fruits. A plant bearing berries is said to be bacciferous or baccate.
While many berries are edible, some are poisonous to humans, such as deadly nightshade and pokeweed.
