Where Did Strawberries Get Their Name

Strawberry: A Brief History (David Trinklein) “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.” Over 400 years later, this quote by 17th century English writer Dr. William Butler still reflects the high esteem most people hold for strawberry.

Its fragrant aroma, delightful sweet flavor, and brilliant color make strawberry nearly irresistible. Whether eaten freshly sliced or prepared, the taste of strawberry makes it one of America’s most beloved fruits and May is an ideal month to sample this year’s harvest. Throughout antiquity, strawberry has seen many different uses other than as a food source.

For example, it was used as a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shape and red color. The ancient Romans believed that strawberry had great medicinal value; they used it to alleviate the symptoms of a wide array of maladies ranging from melancholy to kidney stones.

• Medieval stone masons carved strawberry designs on altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals to symbolize perfection and righteousness.
• In one of its most bizarre uses, Madame Tallien, a prominent figure at the court of the Emperor Napoleon, was famous for bathing in fresh strawberry juice.

Reportedly, she used 22 pounds of strawberry fruit per bath. Botanically, the “fruit” of the strawberry is not a fruit at all. The fleshy, edible part of the plant is the enlarged receptacle of the flower. The visible “seeds” that dot the surface of the strawberry actually are achenes.

An achene is a type of dry fruit borne by some plants in nature where the ripened ovary contains but a single seed. Many people assume the common name “strawberry” stems from the fact the plant is most often mulched with straw during the winter. Although the exact origin of its common name is uncertain, the name strawberry probably is a corruption of “strewn berry”.

The latter was an early designation for the plant which made reference to the fact that, as a strawberry plant produced runners and spread, its berries were strewn about the ground. Other sources suggest its name stems from the fact that English youth picked wild strawberries and sold them impaled on grass straws to the public.

1. Strawberry is a member of the Rosaceae (Rose) family and goes by the scientific name of Fragaria x ananassa,
2. The letter “x” in its name indicates that strawberry is of hybrid origin and, in the case of strawberry, of two different species.
3. The origin of that hybridization is very interesting and involves a Pan American union that occurred in Europe.

There are species of strawberry native to temperature regions all around the world. However, it was the union of two species native to the Americas that gave us our garden strawberry. Fragaria virginiana is a species of strawberry native to North America.

It is characterized by its highly aromatic berries borne in great abundance but rather small in size. History records Fragaria virginiana was taken from the New World to France in 1624. Fragaria chiloensis is a wild species of strawberry native to Chile. It bears berries the size of walnuts. It, too, was taken to France but in 1712.

Both species were widely grown (presumably side-by-side) in European gardens. Chance seedlings representing crosses between the two species appeared. Some were vigorous, large-fruited and productive. These probably served as the ancestors of our modern garden strawberry, Fragaria x ananassa,

It was not until the late 1700’s that garden strawberry made its way (back) to the Americas, and by 1825 strawberry production was well-established in the United States. One of the first popular cultivars was ‘Hovey’ introduced in 1838 by Charles Hovey, a fruit grower, plant breeder and writer from Massachusetts.

Since that time, plant breeders made tremendous progress in improving the fruit quality and overall productivity of strawberries. Modern strawberry cultivars can be classified into one of three different types: June-bearing, everbearing, or day-neutral.

• June-bearing cultivars respond to the short-days of spring by blooming and setting fruit.
• They bear their entire crop over a period of from two to three weeks.
• In contrast, everbearing cultivars produce two crops annually: one in the spring and a second, smaller crop in the fall.
• Day-neutral cultivars do not respond to the length of day versus length of night.

They flower and set fruit whenever the temperature is between 35 and 85 degrees F. Unlike June-bearing types, day-neutral cultivars produce a crop the first year they are planted. Strawberries are ideal for the home garden in that they do not require much space and (normally) produce good yields.

They prefer a full-sun setting in a garden loam amended with organic matter. June bearing types should be spaced between about 18 inches apart in rows 24 inches wide. Allow about four feet between rows. Planting depth is very critical for success; cover the roots and only half of the crown of the transplant with soil.

For a complete discussion of strawberry culture including recommended cultivars, fertilizing, weed control, and insect and disease management, please refer to MU Extension Publication G6135 (Home Fruit Production: Strawberry Cultivars and Their Culture).

What is the real name of strawberry?

Strawberry

Strawberry Fragaria × ananassa
Genus:	Fragaria
Species:	F. × ananassa
Binomial name
Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne

Why is strawberry technically not a fruit?

Why a strawberry isn’t a fruit (sort of) May 3, 2018 I was watching an old episode of “The Big Bang Theory” and Sheldon asked Stephanie what her favorite fruit was. Stephanie said “strawberries” to which Sheldon replied “technically NOT a fruit”. My daughter turned to me and asked “is that true” and I said “yes, sort of.” Let me explain why.

1. Plants have sex.
2. The evidence of their many dalliances lands on our lawns and patio furniture in the form of pollen in the spring and later on in the year as spores, seeds and fruits.
3. What’s the difference between these structures? Well, pollen is like sperm in a tiny ping pong ball, a spore is like a naked baby, a seed is like a naked baby with a bottle and a fruit is like a baby with a bottle wearing clothes (or sometimes even driving a vehicle).

So at this point you’re probably thinking “eeww, I’ve touched that stuff” but let’s cut plants some slack cause if they didn’t have sex, they’d go extinct and that would be bad for us given that we can’t photosynthesize! Ostrich ferns ( Matteucia struthiopteris ) aren’t the best botanical parents.

Spore-producing plants, including mosses and ferns, are terrible parents: they just abandon their children to the whims of fate with nothing to eat and not a stitch on their backs! Cone-bearing plants (=gymnosperms) like spruces, pines, and junipers, are better parents as they provide their babies with something to eat.

Giving their babies a source of food enables these plants to grow in drier, less fertile habitats than spore-producing plants can. However, as their babies are “naked” with no protective covering, they are vulnerable to thieves that want to steal their “bottle”: animals! Conifers like this pine ( Pinus ) provide their babies with food.

• Flowering plants (=angiosperms) include most of the plants we are familiar with: grains, fruit trees and yes, strawberries! These species don’t let their children go out without a snack and a coat on.
• However, not all fruits are fleshy and edible as we are accustomed to think.
• Nuts are actually a type of fruit with a hard shell to protect the baby from hungry animals, kind of like a tank.

Grasses give their babies clothing that sticks to their bodies and won’t come off. Maple trees give their kids hang gliders to help them soar away from their parent on the wind! Manitoba Maples ( Acer negundo ) provide their children with a vehicle. From Wikimedia Commons There are a variety of fleshy fruits as well.

A berry is a multi-seeded fruit that includes some plants that we call berries, like blueberries and Saskatoon berries, but also some that we don’t think of as berries, like grapes and tomatoes. Raspberries and blackberries on the other hand, are not true berries, they are aggregate fruits: basically a bunch of tiny fruits clustered together on the enlarged tip of the flower stalk.

Stone fruits have a single, hard seed (=drupe) inside; they include peaches, plums and cherries. Citrus fruits are berries with a tough, leathery rind called a hesperidium. These fruits, according to Sheldon are “true” fruits. Raspberries ( Rubus pubescens ) aren’t berries: they are aggregate fruits.

Many of the others things we call fruits actually consist of both the fruit AND parts of the flower petals. The fleshy part of apples and pears (=pome) that we eat is not actually the fruit; those are enlarged fleshy petals. Only the “core” of an apple is actually the fruit. The fleshy part of a strawberry is actually formed from the enlarged base of the flower stalk called a receptacle.

Each of the “seeds” on the outside of a strawberry are actually one-seeded fruits with a thin, dry covering called an achene. So when you eat a strawberry you ARE eating the fruits of the plant, but it isn’t the part you think it is. For this reason, botanists call these types of fruits “accessory” fruits.

• Regardless of what part you eat though, there is one thing that is indisputable: fruits are one of the best things you can put into your body.
• Enjoy strawberry season everyone! The fleshy part of a strawberry is actually an enlarged flower stalk.
• The things on them we call “seeds” are actually the fruits.

: Why a strawberry isn’t a fruit (sort of)

Why pink is strawberry?

What are pink strawberries? Have you seen these little pink strawberries at Costco or your local grocery store? They look like underripe strawberries, but they’re not. These little gems are actually pineberries – which is a fusion of the words “pineapple” and “strawberry” although there isn’t any pineapple in them.

1. In fact, the pineberry belongs to the strawberry family and is a cross between the strawberries native to North America (Fragaria virginiana) and strawberries native to Chile (Fragaria chiloensis).
2. Inside, the flesh is white.
3. You may also see these cute little berries called pineberry strawberries or hula pineberries.

What do pineberries taste like? Pineberries have a softer and creamier texture than a red strawberry. There are subtle aromas and flavours of pineapple (thus the name pineberry), pear and apricot. What about nutrition? Both pineberries and strawberries contain vitamin C, folate, fibre and potassium.

Strawberries will have higher levels of “anthocyanins” – which are the healthy plant compounds that give strawberries their beautiful red colour. Since they’re more rare than red strawberries, pineberries tend to be more expensive. How to eat pineberries? Ripe pineberries will have a blush pink colour and bright red seeds.

Eat pineberries the same way you would strawberries! Add them to your yogurt bowl, toss into a salad or add a handful to a snack board. Will you try them? Have you tried them? Tell me what you think in the comments! : What are pink strawberries?

Are apple and strawberry false fruits?

Which one is not a false fruit?a. Appleb. Mangoc. Strawberryd. Cashewnut Join Vedantu’s FREE Mastercalss Answer Verified

Hint: False Fruit is the one that contains, in addition to a mature ovary and seeds, a significant amount of other tissue. Complete answer:

True fruit is the fruit that is formed from the fertilized ovary of the flower and ovules get transformed into seeds. Mango develops from a ripened ovary and thus is called a true fruit. It is a kind of drupe. Hence, mango is not a false fruit In apples, a major part of the fruit is formed from the thalamus, not from the ovary.

• That’s the reason why it is called a false fruit.
• When the fruit is formed from secondary floral parts other than ovary they are called false fruits.
• In some fruits like apple, cashew the thalamus also contributes to fruit formation, hence it is a false fruit.
• In strawberry, the whole soft, edible part of which is represented by an overgrown receptacle.

Hence, it is a false fruit.Note: Development of fruits without fertilization is termed as parthenocarpy. Parthenocarpy is the natural or artificially induced production of fruit without fertilisation of ovules, which makes the fruit seedless. Examples include – Varieties of pineapple, banana, orange, grapes, etc.