Fragaria

Strawberry
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	planetae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Subfamily:	Rosoideae
Genus:	Fragaria; L.
Species
	20+ species; see text

The strawberry (Fragaria) (plural strawberries) 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.

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 the genus Fragaria, comes from the Americas, and is a hybrid of both North and South American varieties. Interestingly, 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, referring 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. Strawberries were considered poisonous in Argentina until the mid-nineteenth century. Strawberries have a taste that varies by cultivar, and ranges from quite sweet to rather tart.

Popular etymology has it that the name "straw" berry 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.

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.

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

Tetraploid species

Hexaploid species

Fragaria moschata (Musk Strawberry)

Octoploid species and hybrids

Fragaria ×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.

Production trends

File:2005strawberry.PNG

Strawberry output in 2005

The FAO reports that the United States was the top producer of strawberry worldwide in 2005 followed by Spain.

Pests

A number of species of Lepidoptera feed on strawberry plants; for details see this list.

Diseases

Uses

In addition to being consumed fresh, strawberries are frozen or made into preserves. Strawberries are a popular addition to dairy products, as in strawberry flavored ice cream, milkshakes and yogurts. Strawberry pie is also popular. Strawberries can also be used as a natural acid/base indicator.