The term vegetable does not have a set definition when it comes to botany. However, in horticulture, the science of growing garden crops, a vegetable is defined as any herbaceous plant — a fleshy plant that completes its life cycle in a growing season — in which some portion “is eaten either cooked or raw, during the principal part of the meal, and not as like a snack or dessert,” Reiners said.
The legal definition of a vegetable versus a fruit — at least in the United States — was determined during a 19th century US Supreme Court case that concluded that the tomato is a vegetable.
While vegetables are really just the roots, stems and leaves of plants, experts don’t recommend eating just any roots, stems and leaves.
