The common bean plant (Phaseolus vulgaris).

The term vegetables can have three distinct meanings when applied to plants. The first as in "animal, vegetable, or mineral" refers to the entire kingdom of green plants: algae, mosses, ferns, and flowering plants, and maybe including nongreen fungi and bacteria. The botanical sense of vegetables refers to all plant parts such as roots, stems, and leaves excluding the reproductive structures of flowers, fruits, and seeds, so that there is a vegetative phase of plant growth and a reproductive phase that is quite distinct. The third usage and the one most commonly understood refers to plant structures that are predominately water, edible without much woody fiber (cellulose), easily eaten raw, and low in sugar. This "kitchen sense" of the word vegetable as in "eat your vegetables" refers to botanical vegetables such as roots (e.g., radishes, parsnips, and carrots), underground stems or...