As far as berries are concerned, strawberries are in a class all of their own. According to the Carneige Museum of Pittsburgh, they aren't even berries but are classified as a "multiple fruit."

This leaves many people wondering about the little white specks on the outside of strawberries. Are they seeds, or are they something else?

Photo: Pexels/Suzy Hazelwood

When you see the small spots on strawberries, each spot is a fruit with a seed inside. They are known as achenes, and some flowering plant species produce them, including buckwheat and quinoa.

Strawberries are not a berry. They are a type of aggregate fruit. Similar to blackberries and raspberries, as they are in the same family.

Photo: Pexels/Pierre-Antoine Caisso

As you already know, strawberries are edible and contain seeds. In some ways, this puts them in the same category as a berry but their scientific classification is different. Why is that?

Per the museum, for a berry to be a berry, there has to be more than one seed, and it has to have an outer skin, an inner casing, and a fleshy middle. The inner casing would hold the seeds.

Photo: Pexels/Ave Calvar Martinez

Strawberries are not in this group. The seed is in the fruit on the surface of the strawberry. The fruit doesn't swell when the flower is pollinated, but it remains separated. Each achene only contains a single seed. Even achene is not classified as a berry.

So, the next time you grab a strawberry, you will be smarter about what you eat. The fact that strawberries are in a different class than other berries doesn't make them less delicious. So grab some shortcake and whipped cream and enjoy the snack.