Is a Broccoli fruit or vegetable?

While it does have small, edible florets that develop from flowers, it's considered a vegetable because we eat the stem and leaves, not the fruit itself.

Here's why:

* Botanically: Broccoli is a flowering head of the Brassica oleracea plant, which is in the cabbage family.

* Culinary: Broccoli is generally prepared and consumed as a side dish or ingredient, not a dessert, which is more typical of fruit.

So, although it has flowers, broccoli's primary culinary use and botanical classification make it a vegetable.