#86369
11/09/2002 7:48 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Another next to useless word:
syconium
n.,
pl. 3ni[a 73nc !8 5ModL < Gr sykon, fig6 Bot. a pear-shaped, fleshy, hollow false fruit, as of the fig
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#86370
11/14/2002 1:11 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Why is the fig a false fruit?
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#86371
11/14/2002 1:16 AM
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Eat too many of them and they can make you young for your age.
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#86372
11/14/2002 1:26 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Seriously, wwh, why is the fig a false fruit? It has seeds. Looks like a real fruit to me, though I can't stand the taste of them.
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#86373
11/14/2002 1:39 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I'm don't knowf botanical definitionn, but a fruit is something edible to promote propagation
of seeds, that is for instance to have animal eat fruit, and deposit seeds a long way from
where it was eaten, with nutrients to help seedling grow.
Offhand, a fig seems to do likewise, but there must be some techicality I don't know about.
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#86374
11/14/2002 1:44 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well, figs sure as heck have flesh and they sure as heck have a heckuva lot of seeds, so I don't understand what's false about 'em.
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#86375
11/14/2002 1:47 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Apropos of Holy Land delicacies, I remember reading a long time ago in National Geographic
about a hobo a very long time ago trying to obtain handout at U.S. Agriculture site in Arizona.
where they had some date palms from seeds stolen in Arabia. When the hobo was denied a
handout, he pointed to the date palms, and said: "I know why you can't get them to produce
any dates." That got him his handout. He was able to tell them that the date palms were
pollinated by a special species of ant, which they hadn't know. So after another trip to Arabia
to steal the right kind of ants, the date palms finally bore fruit.
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#86376
11/14/2002 1:51 AM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 6,296 |
The date palm story is a lot more interesting than wondering about why the fig is false.
Is there a National Geographic archives on the net so we could read more about this story?
And I would think it would be a terrible idea to introduce a kind of ant here. All kinds of terrible, possible ramifications.
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#86377
11/14/2002 1:57 AM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear WW: My father had National Geographics from year one up in the attic. On rainy dayx
I used to go up there to read them, as well as looking for very dark brown bare bosomed
soubrettes to admire. That issue was so long ago, I seriously doubt that you could find it
in a month of Sundays.
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