As may be, but it's also technically a vegetable. The distinction most people think of when they say tomatoes aren't vegetables is primarily cultural, with a bit of culinary meaning as well, and as such, not particularly amenable to a technical treatment. In the broad taxonomic sense of "animal, vegetable, or mineral?", tomatoes definitely qualify. :)
How is it technically a vegetable? The commonly accepted definition of a fruit is a seed-bearing part of a plant. Parsnips and potatoes do not have seeds. Of course, neither do mushrooms, for the sake of argument...
In the exact same sense that potatoes and carrots are tubers, and yet are also vegetables. That they belong to a refined sub-class doesn't deny them entry into the enclosing class.
U. S. Supreme Court, Nix v. Hedden in 1893 challenged the Tariff Act of 1883. The tariff levied a tax on imported vegetables but not on fruit. The Nix family tomato vendors were suing to recover back duties paid under protest. The court decision declared tomatoes to be a vegetable (in common speech) for tax purposes.
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timeasmymeasure
Ooh, look! a button!
Date: 2010-10-12 07:17 pm (UTC)Re: Ooh, look! a button!
Date: 2010-10-12 07:52 pm (UTC)Re: Ooh, look! a button!
Date: 2010-10-12 08:23 pm (UTC)Re: Ooh, look! a button!
Date: 2010-10-13 02:00 am (UTC)