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13 September 2005

Odd Event of the Day →[More:]I was eating a nectarine and when I came to the pit, it was cracked open, with something looing like an almond inside. I find this odd. I'e eaten countless peaches and nectarines in my twenty-five years, and this is the first time that's ever happened.

What odd thing has happened to you today? (I hope it's better than mine.)
post by: dame at: 12:49 | 34 comments
dame, that's the actual nectarine seed; the "pit" is a protective layer, like a coconut husk. Incidentally, the seed tastes incredibly bitter, and has a fair amount of arsenic in it.

Anyway, I haven't had anything odd happen to me today. So far. But it's not even 10 AM here, so here's hoping.
posted by Specklet 13 September | 12:54
Really? Does that mean the arsenic will have leached out and soon I will be dead of nectarine? Because that would be extra odd.

Also, queen or fruits, do you know why the pits have those grooves on them? I've always wondered that too.
posted by dame 13 September | 13:02
Nope, the arsenic doesn't leach out. (Apple seeds have arsenic in them, too.) You'd have to eat a bunch of the seeds before you'd get ill.

The grooves in the pit are definitely genetic. I'm not sure why they're there, however. In some species of peaches (and nectarines, because what are nectarines if not hybrids of peaches and plums), they have a particular vein pattern in the leaf: unbranched veins that turn and run parallel to the leaf edge. This type has longitudinal grooves in the pit.

Other types of peaches have normal veins in their leaves, and normal seeds. You probably won't find this kind of peach in the US, however: we're all hybridized and cultivated.

By the way, the split pit thing happens due to a physiological problem, my guess would be it's also genetic.
posted by Specklet 13 September | 13:21
dame: Arsenic symptoms. Arre u fleeing cofnused all at?
posted by biffa 13 September | 13:22
I'm always drowsy and confused, biffa. But I eat a lot of sulphur (because eggs are fantastic), so I think I'm okay.

Though I still think dying from nectarine would be a better odd thing than the one I used as an excuse to distract myself from work and to coax others into helping.

I am concerned that my nectarines are genetically defective. Must be because they are East Coast nectarines. The only thing I miss about California is the fuit.
posted by dame 13 September | 13:30
If the purpose of fruit is to entice an animal to symbiotically carry the seed far afield from the parent tree, wouldn't it make sense for the pit to have tenaciously gripping ripples and grooves in it so it doesn't just fall out on the first bite?

That's what I've always thought, but I've never seen any relatively smooth peach/apricot/nectarine pits. They've always been crenulated.
posted by loquacious 13 September | 13:34
Oh, and specklet, thanks.
posted by dame 13 September | 13:38
By the way, if you're trying to avoid arsenic poisoning, don't eat banana peels.
posted by mudpuppie 13 September | 13:45
Smoke 'em!
posted by Hugh Janus 13 September | 13:47
The smoothness of avocado pits is makes me quiver.
posted by danostuporstar 13 September | 13:51
Yeah, loquacious, but there are many, many fruits out there that have smooth pits/seeds (mango was the first one to spring to mind). Plus lots of fruits are spread by animals eating 'em whole and pooping them out somewhere else, by sticking to their fur and being carried, etc.

Anyway, you won't see smooth-ish pits unless you're in central Asia, where you can find unhybridized stone fruits...
posted by Specklet 13 September | 13:53
No, no. I've decided. I'm going to commit suicide by fruit. So far, we've got nectarine seeds, apple seeds, and banana peels. What else?
posted by dame 13 September | 13:53
No, no. I've decided. I'm going to commit suicide by fruit. So far, we've got nectarine seeds, apple seeds, and banana peels. What else?
posted by dame 13 September | 13:54
Apricot seeds, of course. Poster child for arsenic. If you want to extend to vegetables, you could move on to solanine poisoning by green potatoes.
posted by gaspode 13 September | 13:56
(Uh, that was supposed to go right after mudpuppie. But I got distracted. I think it's the arsenic.)
posted by dame 13 September | 13:59
(Uh, that was supposed to go right after mudpuppie. But I got distracted. I think it's the arsenic.)
posted by dame 13 September | 13:59
MAD DAM! MAD DAM!
posted by loquacious 13 September | 14:04
pooping them out somewhere else, by sticking to their fur and being carried,
You know, I read this as a sequence of events, not as a list of alternative outcomes.
posted by Hugh Janus 13 September | 14:05
Um, not to quibble with the old lace, but it's cyanide and not arsenic in the pits. All of them. I don't know about the skins.
posted by omiewise 13 September | 14:06
That's funny, Hugh.

And omiewise is right and I am wrong, so it looks like I'm not the Queen of Fruit after all.

The seed coats of ipomoea valencia are known to contain Cyanogenic Glycosides.
posted by Specklet 13 September | 14:30
Yeah, before going for arsenic, you should read Madame Bovary. It's nasty stuff.

Cyanide is quick and painless, but it tastes like shit.
posted by Skrik 13 September | 14:31
Sorry, this link is ā propos of nothing.
posted by Hugh Janus 13 September | 14:40
That's actally next on my list after Vanity Fair, skirk.

Hugh, that is awesome. And erotic.
posted by dame 13 September | 14:57
Well, if you liked that, you might like this, or if you don't read Spanish, its wacky Google translation.
posted by Hugh Janus 13 September | 15:03
That's right, Hugh. They ask the important questions:

Can eat empanadas salteņas with knife and possesor?
It is necessary to eat them seated or of foot?
How many empanadas I must put in my plate?
I must bend the head to eat the empanadas ones?
posted by dame 13 September | 15:14
Oh, and the answer to the second is you should sit, but sometimes leaning on a bar or semistopped on a bicycle is okay. Also, it should take five mouthfuls.
posted by dame 13 September | 15:17
When i was a kid, I used to collect apple seeds, peach seeds, nectarine seeds, etc, and try to make poison. My little sister is still alive.

dame, you are a very funny person. =)

My "odd thing of the day" was at 11 pm last night, when this ginormous dragonfly flew in my open bedroom window. Wingspread was 15 cm, and i swear its head was as big as the last joint of my thumb. They are NOT nocturnal, and it took 10 minutes to capture it with a soft cloth (trying not to injure it) and put it back outside. I hope it lived.

posted by reflecked 13 September | 15:36
sleeping puppies
posted by Hugh Janus 13 September | 16:00
Funny ha-ha or funny farm?

I like bugs, but I think I would've been mean & kept it ot put under glass.
posted by dame 13 September | 16:09
Actually they may not be sleeping as their eyes have not yet opened.

I couldn't find an appropriate thread for some of the things I found today, and I didn't want to start a whole new one, so I've just been dropping them here among the other odd events. I hope that's okay.
posted by Hugh Janus 13 September | 16:17
I'm enjoying it, Hugh. And only reflecked related something odd, so I don't think the thread is really about anything.

The puppies are creepy though.
posted by dame 13 September | 16:19
I think they are adorable. Those posed cats, however...

I was reading a children's book called "The Birthday Book" which featured the Perlorian cats. Thus the weird posed cat thread.

I hope this isn't too self-referential -- I just like to share.
posted by Hugh Janus 13 September | 16:49
Odd thing of the day? I got eyed up by a load of lovely women. That never happens.
posted by urbanwhaleshark 13 September | 17:21
"Funny ha-ha or funny farm? "

That would be funny ha-double-ha!

You often give me a grin, and occasionally an undignified snort.
posted by reflecked 13 September | 20:57
← Seattle Ethiopian Food Meetup || *sigh* →

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