Strawberry
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The strawberry (Fragaria) is a genus of plants in the family Rosaceae, and the fruit of these plants. There are more than 20 named species and many hybrids and cultivars. The most common strawberries grown commercially are cultivars of the Garden strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa. Strawberries are a valuable source of vitamin C. See Garden Strawberry for information about the fruit as a food.
Morphology
The strawberry is an accessory fruit; that is, the fleshy part is derived not from the ovaries which are the "seeds" (actually achenes) but from the peg at the bottom of the hypanthium that held the ovaries. So from a technical standpoint, the seeds are the actual fruits of the plant, and the flesh of the strawberry is modified receptacle tissue. It is Whitish-Green as it develops and in most species turns red when ripe.
History
The typical modern strawberry, of species fragaria, comes from the Americas, and is a hybrid of both north and south american varieties. Ironically, the crossbreeding was done in Europe to correct a mistake; the European horticulturists had only brought female South American plants, and were forced to cross them with the North American variety in order to get fruit and seeds.
Fragaria comes from "fragans", meaning odorous, an allusion to the perfumed flesh of the fruit. Madam Tallien, a great figure of the French Revolution, who was nicknamed Our Lady of Thermidor, used to take baths full of strawberries to keep the full radiance of her skin. Fontenelle, centenarian writer and gourmet of the 18th century, considered his long life was due to the strawberries he used to eat.
Classification
There are more than 20 different Fragaria species worldwide. Key to the classification of strawberry species is recognizing that they vary in the number of chromosomes. There are seven basic types of chromosomes that they all have in common. However, they exhibit different polyploidy. Some species are diploid, having two sets of the seven chromosomes (14 chromosomes total). Others are tetraploid (four sets, 28 chromosomes total), hexaploid (six sets, 42 chromosomes total), octoploid (eight sets, 56 chromosomes total), or decaploid (ten sets, 70 chromosomes total).
As a rough rule (with exceptions), strawberry species with more chromosomes tend to be more robust and produce larger plants with larger berries (Darrow).
- Diploid species
- Fragaria daltoniana
- Fragaria iinumae
- Fragaria nilgerrensis
- Fragaria nipponica
- Fragaria nubicola
- Fragaria vesca (Woodland Strawberry)
- Fragaria viridis
- Fragaria yezoensis
- Tetraploid species
- Hexaploid species
- Fragaria moschata (Musk Strawberry)
- Octoploid species and hybrids
- Fragaria x ananassa (Garden Strawberry)
- Fragaria chiloensis (Beach Strawberry)
- Fragaria iturupensis (Iturup Strawberry)
- Fragaria virginiana (Virginia Strawberry)
- Decaploid species and hybrids
Numerous other species have been proposed. Some are now recognized as subspecies of one of the above species (see GRIN taxonomy database).
The Mock Strawberry and Barren Strawberry, which both bear resemblance to Fragaria, are closely related species in the genus Potentilla. The Strawberry tree is an unrelated species.
Pests
A number of species of Lepidoptera feed on strawberry plants; for details see this list.
Diseases
- Main article: List of strawberry diseases
Etymology
The name is derived from Old English strēawberiġe which is a compound of streaw meaning "straw" and berige meaning "berry". The reason for this is unclear. It may derive from the strawlike appearance of the runners, or from an obsolete denotation of straw, meaning "chaff", referring to the scattered appearance of the achenes.
Interestingly, in other Germanic countries there is a tradition of collecting wild strawberries by threading them on straws. In those countries people find straw-berry to be an easy word to learn considering their association with straws.
There is an alternative theory that the name derives from the Anglo-Saxon verb for "strew" (meaning to spread around) which was streabergen (Strea means "strew" and Bergen means "berry" or "fruit") and thence to streberie, straiberie, strauberie, straubery, strauberry, and finally, "strawberry", the word which we use today. The name might have come from the fact that the fruit and various runners appear "strewn" along the ground.
Popular etymology has it that it comes from gardeners' practice of mulching strawberries with straw to protect the fruits from rot (a pseudoetymology that can be found in non-linguistic sources such as the Old Farmer's Almanac 2005). However, there is no evidence that the Anglo-Saxons ever grew strawberries, and even less that they knew of this practice.
Gallery
Closeup of the surface of a strawberry
Strawberry flowers and developing fruit
Harvested strawberries
A wild strawberry plant, showing characteristic shape
Strawberry farms generally add hives of honeybees to improve pollination
A large strawberry.
Assorted chocolate strawberries
Strawberry farm in DaHu, Taiwan
Trivia
- The Norwegian municipalities of Norddal and Kvæfjord have strawberries in their coat-of-arms.
- The strawberry is the state fruit of Louisiana.
- Strawberry Music is a retailer of music in the United States
- Strawberry is a clothing store in The Mall at the World Trade Center that survived the collapse, the store was next to New Balance and Tie Rack, and across Casual Corner
- Strawberry was one of the fruits offered for bonus points in the game PacMan.
See also
References and external links
- Darrow, George M. The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology. New York. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. Available online.
- List of Fragaria resources, USDA
- GRIN Fragaria Taxonomy Database Listing of Fragaria species, also from a USDA website
- [http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?ti
tle=Fragraria_vesca Medicinal uses of strawberries in Armenia]
