Raspberries, the wussy fruit.

I was walking to my car the other day, and the ground was littered with all of these fruit from a palm tree. At least I think it was a palm. That was the closest tree. I suppose the fruits could have come from some other tree, and fallen at an angle, or been carried over by one of those guys with a shopping cart full of aluminum cans, but WHERE they came from isn't as important as the fruits themselves. They were like little nuts, but they had this outer covering of barbed spikes.

Spikes. I thought, "Wow, this fruit sure knows how to protect itself." So I started thinking about other fruits and nuts that protect themselves. Coconuts? Oh yeah. Cucumbers? Prickly! Cashews? Those things are prehistoric! I decided the plants made the fruits hard to eat so as to protect the seeds. The parts of fruit we eat are intended to nourish the seeds, right?

But then I started thinking about berries. Like raspberries. Those have no protection at all! No spike. No shell. No rind. Hell, they're just sitting out on the bush for everyone to see. They're RED! They're just screaming "EAT ME!" If you've ever had raspberry bushes, you'd know that this is exactly what happens. Birds come from miles around just to eat all the raspberries before you have time to go out there with a bowl. It's mucho frustrating.

So why would some fruits be the botanical equivalent of tanks and others be, well...wussy?

Then I remembered something about the birds eating all the berries. When that happens the neighborhood is covered with bird crap which is filled with seeds. The birds can't digest the seeds. Which means, the seeds get distributed by the birds. Almost like those berries are meant to be eaten.

That's the kind of evolution I like. The more desirable you are, the better your chances of reproducing. Well, if you're a vine or shrubbery.

I want jam.