Alternative Post #3

At the beginning of this semester, I think I took plants for granted.  I never really considered that plants make up a majority of the things we humans eat.  Even if we are eating say a steak, it is most likely flavored or seasoned with some type of herb.  This phylogenetic tree from the Botanist in the Kitchen Blog shows how plants play a major role in our lives.  Well, first off we get avocado from a plant off the Magnolid branch.  Then we get wheat and grain (#1 food source in the world) from monocots.  Lastly, what we've learned over the last month in class is there are so many delicious foods that come from eudicots.  After this semester learning about all these plants and their usefulness, I definitely won't take the flavor that comes with so many meals for granted anymore.  So many of the delicious spices we have come from these plants (most spices come from the "other" group, meaning not monocots or dicots).  The author of the botanist in the kitchen points out that not all of the plants are eaten equally.  For example, some of the foods found in the magnolid clad may be useful for flavoring; however, the core eudicots consist of fruits and vegetables.

Plant Phenology of Food
Photo from: http://botanistinthekitchen.wordpress.com/the-plant-food-tree-of-life/phylogenetic-tree-view/