Why Are Strawberries Called Strawberries

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.

1. An achene is a type of dry fruit borne by some plants in nature where the ripened ovary contains but a single seed.
2. Many people assume the common name “strawberry” stems from the fact the plant is most often mulched with straw during the winter.
3. 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.

• Strawberry is a member of the Rosaceae (Rose) family and goes by the scientific name of Fragaria x ananassa,
• The letter “x” in its name indicates that strawberry is of hybrid origin and, in the case of strawberry, of two different species.
• 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.

1. It is characterized by its highly aromatic berries borne in great abundance but rather small in size.
2. History records Fragaria virginiana was taken from the New World to France in 1624.
3. Fragaria chiloensis is a wild species of strawberry native to Chile.
4. It bears berries the size of walnuts.
5. 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).

Why is it called the strawberry?

Why Are They Called Strawberries? – Most likely the word strawberry comes from the Old English streawberige because the plant sends out runners which could be likened to pieces of straw. But others contend the practice of mulching strawberries with straw or finding them growing wild among matted hay or straw led to their name.

Why is there straw in strawberry?

Berry good for you – Well, we say “berry” but strawberries aren’t really berries, according to botanists. Real berries are fleshy fruits without a stone that come from a single flower containing one ovary. According to them, grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and bananas all count as berries – but not strawberries.

• Our little red friends are classed as an “accessory fruit” – the flesh is an enlarged flower receptacle and what we think of as the “seeds” around the outside are the actual fruits, or achenes, to give them their Sunday name.
• And speaking of misleading games, what’s all this “straw” business? Traditionally, it was believed that the name “strawberry” came from the fact that the plant was bedded in straw.

But as experts at Oxford University have pointed out, the name was around when strawberries were growing wild, and before they were grown as a crop in this country. Some books suggest the “straw” part of the name relates to the appearance of the seeds – like little pieces of chaff or straw.

Why is a strawberry not a berry?

The Strawberry: A Multiple Fruit When we think of fruits and vegetables, we’re pretty sure about which is which. We tend to lump sweet or sour-tasting plants together as fruits, and those plants that are not sugary we consider vegetables. To be more accurate, however, we must consider which part of the plant we are eating.

• While vegetables are defined as plants cultivated for their edible parts, the botanical term “fruit” is more specific.
• It is a mature, thickened ovary or ovaries of a seed-bearing plant, together with accessory parts such as fleshy layers of tissue or “pulp.” Thus, many of the foods we think of casually as fruits, such as rhubarb (of which we eat the leaf stalks), are not fruits at all, and many of our favorite “vegetables” actually fit the definition of fruit, such as the tomato.

As a subcategory of fruits, berries are yet another story. A berry is an indehiscent (not splitting apart at maturity) fruit derived from a single ovary and having the whole wall fleshy. Berries are not all tiny, and they’re not all sweet. Surprisingly, eggplants, tomatoes and avocados are botanically classified as berries.

• And the popular strawberry is not a berry at all.
• Botanists call the strawberry a “false fruit,” a pseudocarp.
• A strawberry is actually a multiple fruit which consists of many tiny individual fruits embedded in a fleshy receptacle.
• The brownish or whitish specks, which are commonly considered seeds, are the true fruits, called achenes, and each of them surrounds a tiny seed.

These achenes also make strawberries relatively high in fiber. According to the Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition, one-half cup of strawberries supplies more fiber than a slice of whole wheat bread, and more than 70 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

1. The cultivated strawberry is a hybrid of two different parent species.
2. Because they are hybrids, cultivated strawberries are often able to adapt to extreme weather conditions and environments.
3. While California and Florida are the largest producers, strawberries are grown in all 50 states.
4. Strawberries are a significant crop in Pennsylvania, but they have a relatively short season.

According to Carolyn Beinlich of Triple B Farms, a local pick-your-own berry farm in Monongahela, Pennsylvania’s ideal strawberry season lasts three and one-half weeks. The plants form their fruit buds in the fall, so adequate moisture at that time is vital.

Since October 1996 was a rainy month, Beinlich is looking forward to a bountiful strawberry crop this season. The recipe shown here is among Beinlich’s favorites for celebrating the strawberry season. For more information about Triple B Farms, call 258-3557. Lynn Parrucci is program coordinator, and Amy Eubanks is a research assistant, at the Science Center’s Kitchen Theater.

Botanist Sue Thompson of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, also contributed to this article. *** Visit the Kitchen Theater at Carnegie Science Center to learn more about the science of cooking, and get a taste of what we’re cooking and a recipe to take home.

1 quart strawberries, washed and drained well, stems removed 3_4 cup white sugar 11_2 Tablespoons cornstarch 1 1/2 cups water 1 3-ounce package strawberry gelatin 1 9-inch baked pie shell

Boil sugar, cornstarch and water until clear (about 10 minutes). Mix well with strawberries and spoon into pie shell. Refrigerate three hours. Top with whipped cream if desired, and serve. Carolyn Beinlich of Triple B Farms will present a cooking demonstration on strawberries at the Science Center’s Kitchen Theater Sunday, June 1, at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.

What was the original name of strawberry?

Some interesting facts you may not know! –

Strawberries were originally cultivated in ancient Rome Madame Tallien, a prominent figure at the court of the Emperor Napoleon, was famous for bathing in the juice of fresh strawberries. She used 22 pounds per basin – needless to say, she did not bathe daily. The American Indians were already eating strawberries when the Colonists arrived. The crushed berries were mixed with cornmeal and baked into strawberry bread. After trying this bread, Colonists developed their own version of the recipe and Strawberry Shortcake was created. The strawberry, as we know it, was originally grown in northern Europe, but species are also found in Russia, Chile, and the United States. The berries seem to be strewn among the leaves of the plant. The plant first had the name strewberry, which later was changed to strawberry. In France, strawberries were cultivated in the 13th Century for use as a medicinal herb. Historical Medicinal Uses of Fragaria Vesca (Alpine Strawberry): It is said that the leaves, roots and fruits of this variety of strawberry were used for a digestive or skin tonic. Internally, the berry was used for diarrhoea and digestive upset, while the leaves and the roots were used for gout. Externally, it was used for sunburn and skin blemishes, and the fruit juice was used for discoloured teeth. Legend has it that if you break a double strawberry in half and share it with a member of the opposite sex, you will fall in love with each other. The strawberry was a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shapes and red color. The first documented botanical illustration of a strawberry plant appeared as a figure in Herbaries in 1454.

: Strawberry Facts,History and Origin & Other Details at Queensland.

Who named strawberries?

What is the history behind strawberries? Strawberries are indigenous to both the northern and southern hemispheres. They have been found growing by the seaside, in the woods, and on mountain tops. The strawberry was first described in literature as early as 1000AD and the first sketch of a strawberry plant was printed in 1484.

The first mention of strawberries occurred sometime between 234-149 BC in the writings of Cato, a Roman Senator. The first descriptions published were mostly for the medicinal uses of the plant and not for the benefits of the fruit. For a period of time in the 12th Century Saint Hildegard Von Binger, then an abbess, pronounced that strawberries were unfit to eat due to the fact that they grew close to the ground; it was thought that the fruit was contaminated by the snakes and toads that may have touched them.

This, along with the support of her theory by local political figures, caused many people to avoid the fruit and decreased its growing popularity. Charles Linnaeus, however, put this superstition to rest by prescribing for himself a diet of only the fruit.

• Strawberries began to be sold at a London marketplace around 1831.
• They were most likely harvested from nearby fields or woodlands and not from “commercial” production areas.
• In England and mainland Europe as the consumption of strawberries became more popular, many commoners as well as aristocrats would have a patch in their home gardens.

France, though, became the the front runner in strawberry production. The word Strawberry is in itself, peculiar to the English language. The name has a variety of possible origins. Straw was commonly used to mulch the plants during the winter and as weed and soil control to keep the berries cleaner.

• In London children used to collect the berries, string them on pieces of straw, then sell them at the markets as “Straws of Berries”.
• The runners which the plants produce are said to be strewn or dispersed around the plant.
• In some literature the fruit is called strewberry.
• In Latin the fruit is referred to as “Fragra” or Fragrant.

Charles Linnaeus gave strawberry the species name of Fragaria. In French, Italian, and Spanish the fruit is referred to as a “Fraise” or fragrant berry.The Narragansett Indians of North America called the fruit “wuttahimneash” or “heart berry”. The explorer Cartier brought strawberries back to France from his first trip to the Quebec Province of Canada in 1534 while another explorer, Harriot, brought plant specimens with him from Virginia to London.Image of a hand holding 5 huge strawberries Other strawberry plants were brought to Europe from Chile and Peru where they had been cultivated and marketed long before the Spanish arrived.

• The strawberry plants found native in North America, were superior to all European varieties in size, flavor, and beauty.
• Only in 1697 were the first detailed accounts of strawberry production for larger fruit, including correct soil conditions, pest problems etc.
• Written by the gardener at Versailles.

In the 18th Century one of the first breeding crosses was made to improve the strawberry. A Virginia variety with good flavor and fruitfulness was crossed with a Chilean variety which lent the resultant offspring both size and firmness. This variety became known as the Pineapple or Pine strawberry due to its distinctive flavor.

Are strawberries a nut?

Are strawberries nuts? – Yes, strawberries really are nuts – at least from a botanical standpoint. Technically speaking, the red part is classified as an aggregate accessory fruit. The strawberry’s true fruits are actually the little yellow, seed-like bits on its outer surface called achenes. But the strawberry nuts are so tiny that they have no impact on consumption. Botanically speaking, the strawberry is a nut and develops a red accessory fruit

Who invented strawberries?

History – Fragaria × ananassa ‘Gariguette,’ a cultivar grown in southern France The first garden strawberry was grown in Brittany, France, during the late 18th century. Prior to this, wild strawberries and cultivated selections from wild strawberry species were the common source of the fruit.

The strawberry fruit was mentioned in ancient Roman literature in reference to its medicinal use. The French began taking the strawberry from the forest to their gardens for harvest in the 14th century. Charles V, France’s king from 1364 to 1380, had 1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden. In the early 15th century western European monks were using the wild strawberry in their illuminated manuscripts.

The strawberry is found in Italian, Flemish, and German art, and in English miniatures. The entire strawberry plant was used to treat depressive illnesses. By the 16th century, references of cultivation of the strawberry became more common. People began using it for its supposed medicinal properties and botanists began naming the different species.

In England the demand for regular strawberry farming had increased by the mid-16th century. The combination of strawberries and cream was created by Thomas Wolsey in the court of King Henry VIII, Instructions for growing and harvesting strawberries showed up in writing in 1578. By the end of the 16th century three European species had been cited: F.

vesca, F. moschata, and F. viridis, The garden strawberry was transplanted from the forests and then the plants would be propagated asexually by cutting off the runners. Two subspecies of F. vesca were identified: F. sylvestris alba and F. sylvestris semperflorens,

The introduction of F. virginiana from eastern North America to Europe in the 17th century is an important part of history because it is one of the two species that gave rise to the modern strawberry. The new species gradually spread through the continent and did not become completely appreciated until the end of the 18th century.

A French excursion journeyed to Chile in 1712, which led to the introduction of a strawberry plant with female flowers that resulted in the common strawberry. The Mapuche and Huilliche Indians of Chile cultivated the female strawberry species until 1551, when the Spanish came to conquer the land.

• In 1765, a European explorer recorded the cultivation of F.
• Chiloensis, the Chilean strawberry.
• At first introduction to Europe, the plants grew vigorously, but produced no fruit.
• French gardeners in Brest and Cherbourg around the mid-18th century first noticed that when F.
• Moschata and F.
• Virginiana were planted in between rows of F.

chiloensis, the Chilean strawberry would bear abundant and unusually large fruits. Soon after, Antoine Nicolas Duchesne began to study the breeding of strawberries and made several discoveries crucial to the science of plant breeding, such as the sexual reproduction of the strawberry which he published in 1766.

• Duchesne discovered that the female F.
• Chiloensis plants could only be pollinated by male F.
• Moschata or F.
• Virginiana plants.
• This is when the Europeans became aware that plants had the ability to produce male-only or female-only flowers.
• Duchesne determined F.
• Ananassa to be a hybrid of F.
• Chiloensis and F.

virginiana,F. ananassa, which produces large fruits, is so named because it resembles the pineapple in smell, taste and berry shape. In England, many varieties of F. ananassa were produced, and they form the basis of modern varieties of strawberries currently cultivated and consumed.

What makes a berry a berry?

It turns out berry is actually a botanical term, not a common English one. Blackberries, mulberries, and raspberries are not berries at all, but bananas, pumpkins, avocados and cucumbers are. So what makes a berry? Well, a berry has seeds and pulp (properly called “pericarp”) that develop from the ovary of a flower.

The pericarp of all fruit is actually subdivided into 3 layers. The exocarp is the skin of the fruit, and in berries it’s often eaten (like in grapes) but not always (like in bananas). The mesocarp is the part of the fruit we usually eat, like the white yummy part of an apple, or the bulk of a plum, though in citrus fruits the mesocarp is actually the white, sort of inner-peel that we remove.

Last is the endocarp, which is the closest layer that envelopes the seeds. In stone fruits, it’s the stone. In many fruits, it’s actually a membrane that we don’t really notice, often because it’s been bred to be thin, like in bananas. In citrus, the endocarp is actually the membrane that holds the juicy parts of the fruit, that is, the part you don’t want to pierce unless you want to get sticky.

If most fruit have these 3 layers, then why are berries special? It’s mostly due to the nature of their endocarps. Although not exactly quantified, berries generally have thin endocarps and fleshy (not dry) pericarps. Of course, these rules aren’t rigid, as watermelons and citrus fruits are berries, and neither are thought to have especially thin skins.

Facts About Strawberries

So if your favourite fruit isn’t a berry, what might it be? If it has a thick, hard endocarp, it’s probably a drupe, a fancy term for a stone fruit. This group encompasses apricots, mangoes, cherries, olives, avocados, dates and most nuts. Basically, if you wouldn’t want to just bite into it, it’s probably a drupe.

If your snack has a core, it’s probably a pome, From its name you probably guessed that this bunch includes apples, as well as pears. If you’re a bit more adventurous, your favourite breakfast might include a multiple fruit, which is a fruit that is actually make up of a cluster of fruiting bodies. Some examples of this are pineapple, figs and mulberries.

These fruits turn out to be part of a greater group called accessory fruits, in which the fruit (or many fruiting bodies) is not derived from the ovary, but some other part of the developing plant. This is where the “not-a-berry” strawberry falls. Finally, if you, like me, consider your favourite fruit to be a raspberry or blackberry, then you love aggregate fruits,

Is A pineapple A berry?

15 cool Pineapple facts – Not that you need any extra reason to like pineapples even more, but just in case: 14 interesting things that you may not have known about our favorite fruit:

1. A pineapple is neither a pine nor an apple, but a fruit consisting of many berries that have grown together.
2. This also means that Pineapples are not a single fruit, but a group of berries that have fused together, The technical term for this is a ” multiple fruit ” or a “collective fruit”. You can see a 1 minute time lapse of a pineapple growing from many berries into one pineapple in the video directly below this list.
3. The scientific name of a pineapple is Ananas comosus, This word comes from the Tupi words ” nanas” (which means pine) and ” comosus” (which means tufted). Tupi is the language used by the Tupi people, who are indigenous people of Brazil.
4. In Hawaiian, a pineapple is called ” hala kahiki “, This is because the Hawaiians thought the pineapple resembled the ” Hala ” fruit. ” Kahiki ” means foreign, hence pineapples became “foreign Hala’s in Hawaiʻi.
5. Pineapples were historically very useful on long boat trips, Eating pineapple prevented scurvy, and pineapple juice mixed with sand is a great cleaning agent for boats.
6. Pineapples can “eat you back”! Pineapples contain an enzyme called “bromelain”. This enzyme breaks down proteins in your mouth. So when you eat a pineapple, it is eating you back. Once the bromelain enters your stomach the enzymes are broken down, so you don’t need to worry about being eaten inside-out. Actually, pineapples have many medicinal qualities!, Fun additional fact: workers on pineapple fields often don’t have fingerprints, which could be caused by this enzyme!
7. Pollination of pineapples is required for seed formation, but the presence of seeds has a negative effect on the quality of the fruit. Possible pollinators for Pineapples are honey bees, pineapple bees, and Hummingbirds. In Hawaiʻi, the import of hummingbirds is prohibited for this reason,
8. It can take more than two years for a pineapple plant to produce a single pineapple fruit.
9. Pineapple plants can grow from seeds of through vegetative reproduction (cloning). Cloning is by far the most popular method to grow new pineapples, To clone a pineapple you can use four different parts of the plant: the crowns, slips, suckers, and shoots. The crown is the very top of the pineapple fruit. Slips are the leafy branches that are attached directly below the fruit. The suckers and shoots both originate from near the bottom of the stem.
10. Have a look here if you want to know how you can grow a pineapple at home, or check out the video below this list by Mark from Self sufficient Me
11. Do you want to grow pineapples yourself? Then keep in mind that altitude matters! In Hawai’i, the best pineapples in terms of sugar content and sugar-acid balance grow at an elevation of ≈300 m.
12. Pineapples can be tricked into flowering using smoke ! This was first discovered on the Azores Islands using smoke. Later research showed the component in smoke responsible for the flowering to be ethylene. Now, forced flowering of pineapples is standard practice on Hawaiʻi because it allows the fruits to be produced throughout the year.
13. Pineapple production on Hawaiʻi has severely decreased in the past few decades. Harvest volume now is only a few % of the peak rate it once was 🙁
14. The last pineapple cannery on Hawaiʻi closed in 2006 and now only fresh pineapples are exported. This is possible because of recent advancements in pineapple cultivation that have produced sweeter pineapples that are easier to transport (the so-called ‘MD-2′ pineapple cultivar).

Regrow Pineapples from Store Bought Pineapples!

Is watermelon a berry?

The Shattering Truth about Watermelons and Other Fruits You Thought You Knew In this series, we reveal the secrets, histories and quirky bits of trivia behind your favorite foods. Get ready to have your fruit-loving minds blown: Watermelons are berries.

1. And so are cucumbers, cantaloupes, squash and pumpkins.
2. Scientifically called pepos, these fruits fall into a specific category of berry—one with a tough rind, multiple flat seeds and pulpy flesh.
3. Pepos are also indehiscent.
4. While we wish that meant they showed too much skin, the term actually refers to a pod or fruit that doesn’t split open when it’s ripe.

To make matters more confusing, some fruits commonly considered berries aren’t berries at all. Strawberries, for example, are actually “aggregate accessory fruits.” While true berries contain a single ovary, strawberries have multiple. Fun fact: Each of those tiny seeds on the outside of the strawberry is technically an individual fruit.

Why is Apple not a berry?

Pomes – Main article: Pome The pome fruits produced by plants in subtribe Pyrinae of family Rosaceae, such as apples and pears, have a structure (the core) in which tough tissue clearly separates the seeds from the outer softer pericarp. Pomes are not berries.

What gender is strawberry?

Strawberry’s Historic Fight for Transgender Rights Strawberry is a transgender woman who for the majority of her incarceration was housed in men’s prisons. While in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), she was subjected to extreme, unrelenting sexual violence and abuse by other prisoners, by guards, and by the administration charged with keeping her safe.

When she reported the guards who abused her, prison officials retaliated by giving her unfounded disciplinary tickets and putting her in solitary confinement for weeks and months at a time. For years, her life was a nightmare. But Strawberry stood up and fought back. It took two years of litigation with the IDOC – and transfers to four different men’s prisons in the Illinois penitentiary system – before she finally was sent to a women’s prison last December.

Strawberry is the second person in the country to win a federal court ruling recognizing that a prison’s decision to house transgender women in a men’s prison could be a form of unlawful discrimination. Despite her historic victory, the fight was not over.

The unfounded disciplinary tickets Strawberry received in retaliation for reporting the abuse she endured caused her sentence to be extended by nine months. So even though she completed her sentence in February, she still had to fight for her freedom. And today, Strawberry is free. At 28 years old, Strawberry Hampton has already endured more abuse and more hardship than most of us could imagine.

Yet she is one of the most fearless, confident people I’ve ever met, and her spirit cannot be broken. I am proud to fight alongside her as she continues to battle for the rights of transgender people who are trapped in the criminal justice system. Correctional systems across the country continue to ignore the national regulations set forth in the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).

Under PREA, transgender inmates should receive individualized placement and housing assessments, based on a number of factors, including personal safety. Yet many prisons, including IDOC, still automatically default to housing prisoners based on their sex assigned at birth. As a result, before Strawberry’s transfer in 2018, there were around 50 transgender woman in the custody of IDOC who all were housed in men’s prisons.

Those trans women who are still incarcerated remain 10 times more vulnerable to abuse and sexual violence than other prisoners. Thanks to Strawberry’s determination, we are hopeful that we are going to start seeing some improvements in IDOC. As a result of her lawsuit, a federal court judge has ordered for all corrections staff.

That’s a good start, but there’s much more to be done. Everyone needs to understand that you don’t give up your constitutional rights when you go to prison, and that the prison has an obligation to keep safe all people in custody, especially its most vulnerable populations. It shouldn’t take a lengthy legal battle to secure a prisoner’s basic safety.

But as long as it does, we will continue to fight in court to protect the most vulnerable behind bars. For anyone out there who is facing this type of abuse themselves, or anyone who loves someone who is in prison and being subjected to this kind of torment, I hope you’ll find some strength and hope from Strawberry’s example.

1. Even after everything Strawberry has gone through, she’s still so incredibly positive and forward-looking.
2. She has spent her first few days of freedom with a beaming smile on her face.
3. She keeps talking about her plans for the future and her commitment to continuing to be a champion for the transgender community.

She’s an inspiration. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to her yourself. : Strawberry’s Historic Fight for Transgender Rights

What is the rarest strawberry?

Current Facts – Awayuki strawberries, botanically a part of the Fragaria genus, are a rare, light pink variety belonging to the Rosaceae family. The delicate fruits are premium strawberries highly prized for their aroma, flavor, appearance, and texture.

The name Awayuki translates from Japanese to mean “light snow,” a descriptor that was given in honor of the fruit’s delicate texture and coloring. Awayuki strawberries obtain their unusual pink-hue from the natural process of restricting sunlight during cultivation. As the strawberries develop without normal levels of sunlight, the colored pigment responsible for the fruit’s signature red hue, anthocyanins, is reduced, creating light pink fruits.

Awayuki strawberries are only cultivated through a few farms across Japan and are grown for the Japanese luxury fruit market. The fruits are produced under a strict set of cultivation standards, contributing to the variety’s crisp but tender texture and sweet flavor, and once mature, the strawberries are harvested and packaged by hand, selecting the fruits with the best color, shape, and appearance.

Are cherries a berry?

Cherry Nutrition Facts – Though quite small, cherries are actually packed with nutrition, They contain high amounts of fiber, vitamin C, and potassium. They’re also high in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds, which can help fight oxidative stress and reduce inflammation.

• In fact, studies have found that the antioxidants in tart cherry juice and concentrate can accelerate muscle recovery and decrease delayed-onset muscle pain.
• Cherries also promote heart health due to their high presence of heart-healthy nutrients and compounds.
• Cherries have also been found to help those with gout as they can actually decrease uric acid levels in your body.

Additionally, eating cherries can help improve your sleep quality. Cherries contain melatonin, in addition to numerous plant compounds, that help regulate your sleep-wake cycle. You might be surprised to learn that cherries are not considered berries. Instead, they are botanically considered a drupe and are more similar to peaches and nectarines than berries.

Why are Millennials called strawberries?

What is the Strawberry Generation? – The strawberry generation is a term that describes the phenomenon of today’s young generation. Where they usually have high ideas and creativity, but when given a little pressure they break easily like strawberries.

• As mentioned by Prof.
• Rhenald Kasali in his book entitled Strawberry Generation, he stated that this generation is a generation that has many bright ideas and high creativity.
• But unfortunately, they are very easy to give up, easily hurt, slow, selfish, and pessimistic about the future.
• If traced back, the term strawberry generation first appeared in Taiwan to describe the younger generation who were born after 1981 (post-80) and have difficulty dealing with social pressure unlike their parents when they were young.

Over time, much debate has arisen regarding the existing year groupings for this term. Not a few people believe that the term is more appropriate for those who have behaved like a strawberry.

What color were strawberries originally?

Did you know the original strawberry is white? “Tastes like strawberries, on a summer evening,” sings the Century’s eminent heartthrob Harry Styles in his produce-inspired hit song Watermelon Sugar, “I want more berries,” he chants, then proceeds to devour slice after slice of watermelon.

• Clearly, Mr Styles has a penchant for deep-red fruits.
• Or does he? Styles, like most, would perhaps be aghast to learn that strawberries are due to some strict definitions.
• But watermelons are, so it seems he still got his wish.
• And before you get bogged down on that one, here’s another fact: strawberries were once white (and some were even yellow).

Boom! ‘How now?’ you ask. It involves wild plants in southern Chile, a long boat ride to Brittany, and a French garden. “The modern strawberry emerged in Brest, France, in 1766,” Cecilia Céspedes tells SBS Food. She works as an agroecological researcher for the Chilean government agency INIA.

While France is where the strawberry was cultivated, it’s not where it originated. “It was a cross of fragaria virginiana from the United States with fragaria chiloensis, which is why it’s known as ‘F. chiloensis x F. virginiana’,” Céspedes explains. It was this latter variety from South America that really shakes things up, since it was white.

The Spaniards, in their exploration and conquest of Chile, wrote extensively of this incredible fruit they saw cultivating abundantly. They commented on its intense aroma, large size, and off-white hue, and considered it to be far superior to the strawberry variety they had back home.

• They were so captivated that one Frenchman decided to take five of the white fruits with him back to Europe — no easy task given the length of such a journey.
• “He gave two to the captain of the boat in exchange for the freshwater needed to water the strawberries, one to a minister and one to a professor to plant in France and the final one he left in the port of Brest,” Céspedes says.
• It was there that Chile’s white strawberry would be cross-cultivated with the North American variety to form the strawberry we know today, consumed and venerated world-over — not just by British pop stars.

COOK UP STRAWBERRIES WITH ADAM LIAW While it makes for a great story, the odyssey of those five strawberries in 1714 inadvertently led to the demise of the white strawberry in Chile, as the red type was commercialised. Before this, the white ones were eaten widely by the Indigenous Mapuche people long before the arrival of Europeans and are today considered a strong symbol of culture and heritage.

They also taste better. “The fruit of fragaria chiloensis stands out for its great sweetness and aroma compared to the commercial strawberry,” Céspedes says. Even though one would be very hard pressed to find them on the shelf of a Chilean supermarket, Indigenous groups, particularly from the Nahuelbuta territory in the south, work to keep their precious strawberries growing.

The local municipality of Contulmo puts on a White Strawberry Festival every year to promote white strawberry cultivation, consumption and culture. Céspedes authored a report titled Rescue and valuation of the white strawberry with support from the Chilean government to raise awareness of its scarcity.

1. For the growers, farming these strawberries is a labour of love.
2. Despite low yields owing to climate change, exploitation of the lands and water shortages, farmers continue their cultivation”, she explains.
3. Although a kilo of red strawberries sells for $1.90, their white predecessors go for upwards of $45.

Despite this, there’s hope that Chile’s love for berries will help create a boutique market for the endemic Chilean fruit. “In Chile, you can find strawberries in all sorts of food and drinks,” explains Daniela Prado Frugone, a Chilean masseuse who has lived in Australia for seven years.

” many strawberry desserts we enjoy in Chile, like strawberry kuchen (cakes introduced to Chile by German migrants), marmalades, cheesecakes and bavarois.” “Being originally from central Chile and having lived in different countries, I must say Chilean strawberries are the best in the world.” Traditional white strawberry recipes also continue to be popular.

“The farmers in Nahuelbuta prepare strawberries with toasted corn flour as well as strawberry juices,” says Céspedes. The popular ‘borgoña’, a strawberry-infused wine cocktail, has become a national drink and is commonplace during celebrations on Chile’s national day.

1. The land lends itself to bountiful production of the fruit, helping make it a popular snack and addition to dishes.
2. With an insatiable appetite, optimal growing conditions and a strong list of strawberry dishes, the scope for popularising the white strawberry again is promising.
3. Perhaps even Harry Styles would be happy to lend a hand.

BERRY TASTY RECIPES : Did you know the original strawberry is white?

Is the word strawberry in the Bible?

Overview of references to strawberries in the Bible and their symbolic meaning. – So, what do strawberries represent in the Bible? The Bible does not reference the little red fruit. However, many passages refer to generic fruit that could be a strawberry or strawberry plant. Strawberries in the Bible

Are strawberries berries asexual?

Strawberries, like many flowering plants, can produce both sexually and asexually. Farmers rely on both traits: sexual reproduction produces fruit, whereas asexual reproduction provides breeders with clones of useful strawberry varieties. To learn more about how the process is regulated, researchers led by Christophe Rothan and Béatrice Denoyes at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research in Bordeaux studied strawberry mutants that do not make stolons, the long aerial stems that produce clones.

Is a banana a nut?

8 things you didn’t know about bananas One of America’s favorite snacks is facing a crisis. And with no known way to stop the disease — or even contain it — scientists say that over time, this type of banana may be eliminated from commercial production. Not to fear. Scientists in Honduras are working to create a resistant banana before the disease hits Latin America, where the majority of bananas are grown.

1. You can watch our full report on that effort,
2. There will be more bananas.
3. But with the future of the banana industry in flux, here are eight things you didn’t know about them.1.
4. Bananas aren’t really a fruit.
5. Well, they are and they aren’t.
6. Bananas are,
7. While the banana plant is colloquially called a banana tree, it’s actually an herb distantly related to ginger, since the plant has a succulent tree stem, instead of a wood one.

The yellow thing you peel and eat is, in fact, a fruit because it contains the seeds of the plant. Although since bananas have been commercially grown, the plants are sterile, and the seeds have gradually been reduced to little specs. And to clarify more banana terminology: bananas grow in what are known as “hands,” so-called because of their appearance, which make up the larger stalk, known as a “bunch.” 2. Cluster of bananas hang from a Blue Java banana tree also known as Ice Cream banana. Photo via Getty Images What do Mona Lisa, Ice Cream and Goldfinger all have in common? They’re all varieties of bananas. Grown in more than 150 countries, it is widely believed there are more than 1,000 types of bananas in the world, which are subdivided into 50 groups.

• The most common is the Cavendish, the one most frequently produced for export markets.
• There’s also the Blue Java, aka the Ice Cream banana, so named for its blue skin and creamy, ice cream-like texture; the Macabu, which is black when fully ripe with a sweet pulp; the Niño, which is a mild and finger-sized, and the Burro banana, which has squared sides and a lemon flavor when ripe.3.

Banana peels can help fix a splinter or a skipping DVD. Photo via Getty Images A banana’s wholesomeness often pertains to it’s nutritional value (), but less attention is given to its peel, which, thanks to a blend of acids, oils and enzymes, has some powerful off-label uses. For instance, you can put one on a splinter to help loosen the foreign fragments in the skin and heal the wound.

1. And, to stop a scratched DVD or CD from skipping, rubbing a banana peel can fill the scratches without damaging the plastic finish.
2. And the list goes on.
3. You can rub a banana peel on your skin to remove ink stains or soothe insect bites.
4. You can also polish shoes, dust plants and even whiten your teeth with the peel.

Banana peels have also been used for water purification, ethanol production and as a fertilizer — and they’re often part of feedstock for cattle, goats, pigs and poultry. So go forth and use the banana peel for just about anything. Just make sure you don’t slip on it.4.

There was once an official international club where banana lovers could unite. The now-defunct, not to be confused with the very much in business in Mecca, California, boasts 17,000 banana-themed artifacts and is listed in Guinness World Records as the “largest collection devoted to any one fruit.” Some highlights include banana lamps, banana bowls, banana jewelry and a decades-old petrified banana that hangs in a frame on the wall.

Since 1972, 38,000 people in 27 countries became dues-paying members by coughing up $15 with the option to choose their own banana-themed nickname. Famous Banana Club-ers include Jay Leno and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. The museum was sold in 2010 and the new ownership is no longer associated with the Banana Club. Employees of the “Mateo” banana plantation on a normal workday in Chobo, Ecuador, 400 km southwest of Quito, on January 13, 2016. Photo by Rodrigo Buendia/Getty Images While the beloved banana has long been popular, it hasn’t always been good business.

Eli M. Black was the former chairman of United Fruit, which at one time imported about a third of all bananas sold in the U.S. and owned the Chiquita banana brand. After taking helm of the company in the early 1970s, Black discovered the banana carried much less capital than he once believed and the company soon became crippled with debt.

Then came Hurricane Fifi, which destroyed many of the company’s banana plantations in Honduras, and Black eventually sold the company, seemingly putting an end to all of his banana strife. But one a year later, the Securities and Exchange Commission uncovered a $2.5-million bribe that Black offered to Honduran President Oswaldo López Arellano to get reduced taxes on banana exports. Employees of the “Mateo” banana plantation on a normal workday in Chobo, Ecuador, 400 km southwest of Quito, on January 13, 2016. Photo by Rodrigo Buendia/Getty Images Long before became the popular grocery store item Americans know and love, a different type of banana was considered the standard.

The Gros Michel, often known as Big Mike, was the first type of banana to be cultivated on a large scale and started appearing in North American and European cities in the late 1800s. (It’s rise was all thanks to naturalist Nicolas Baudin, who some might call a French Johnny Appleseed, who deposited the plant stems on islands in the Caribbean.) But soon after, the descended upon plantations and devastated the crop, disrupting the international supply by the 1940s.

And by the 1960s, most commercial operations in the Americas and Caribbean had halted production of Gros Michel. If you’d like to try the Gros Michel — which has a sweeter taste and creamier consistency than the Cavendish — you can still find it in parts of Southeast Asia, Africa and islands in the Pacific.7. The fall of man at Sistine chapel by Michelangelo, Vatican Museum, Rome, Italy. Photo via Getty Images Many believe the Forbidden Fruit consumed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was an apple. Others think it may have been a fig or a pomegranate. And then there’s the speculation that the fruit may have been a banana.

An 18th century Swedish botanist who was the first person to successfully grow a fully flowered banana tree in the Netherlands, theorized that bananas grow at the right height for someone to longingly reach out and grab it. Also backing up his argument? Banana leaves, larger than fig leaves, might work better to cover nakedness.

Linnaeus took his penchant for bananas further by speculating other uses for the versatile banana. For example, the botanist recommended boiling bananas with sugar to cure anger, mashing bananas with honey to soothe eye inflammation and crushing banana root soaked in milk to alleviate dizziness.8. A volunteer hands out bananas to runners participating in the TCS New York City Marathon on November 2, 2014. Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Despite their popularity, there is debate among nutritionists about the actual health value of the banana.While it’s true bananas are generally low in calories (one medium banana has about 100), and they have little to no fat, sodium or cholesterol and are a good source of vitamin C, potassium, fiber and vitamin B6, they also contain about 27 grams of carbohydrates and 14 grams of sugar.Many nutritionists argue the problem with carbs is that they turn to sugar once they reach the blood stream, spiking your blood sugar levels, leaving you vulnerable to cravings and eventual weight gain, which is why some nutritionists would recommend snacking on other fruits.Still, medical research (which is oft disproved; ) has shown that eating bananas may lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as decrease the risk of getting some cancers.Also, in face of a common belief, bananas are relatively low in potassium compared to other foods, such as beans, milk, apricots, carrots, bell peppers and sweet potatoes.

Is An Orange A berry?

Despite its name, the strawberry isn’t a true berry. Neither is the raspberry or the blackberry. But the banana is a berry, scientifically speaking, as are eggplants, grapes and oranges. So what’s the deal? Why are berries so very hard to define? The discrepancy in berry nomenclature arose because people called certain fruits “berries” thousands of years before scientists came up with a precise definition for the word, said Judy Jernstedt, a professor of plant sciences at the University of California, Davis.

Usually, people think of berries as small, squishy fruit that can be picked off plants, but the scientific classification is far more complex, Jernstedt said. Related: What’s the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? Botanically speaking, a berry has three distinct fleshy layers: the exocarp (outer skin), mesocarp (fleshy middle) and endocarp (innermost part, which holds the seeds).

For instance, a grape’s outer skin is the exocarp, its fleshy middle is the mesocarp and the jelly-like insides holding the seeds constitute the endocarp, Jernstedt told Live Science. In order to be considered a berry, a fruit must develop from a flower that has one ovary. (Image credit: udaix/Shutterstock.com ) The same layered structure appears in other berries, including the banana and watermelon, although their exocarps are a bit tougher, taking the form of a peel and a rind, respectively.

The suffix “carp” comes from the word “carpel,” which refers to the pistil, the female organ of the flower, Jernstedt said.) In addition, to be a berry, a fruit must have two or more seeds. Thus, a cherry, which has just one seed, doesn’t make the berry cut, Jernstedt said. Rather, cherries, like other fleshy fruit with thin skin and a central stone that contains a seed, are called drupes, she said.

Moreover, to be a berry, fruits must develop from one flower that has one ovary, Jernstedt said. Some plants, such as the blueberry, have flowers with just one ovary. Hence, the blueberry is a true berry, she said. Tomatoes, peppers, cranberries, eggplants and kiwis come from a flower with one ovary, and so are also berries, she said.

1. Other plants, such as the strawberry and the raspberry, have flowers with more than one ovary.
2. Raspberries have those little subunits,” Jernstedt said.
3. Each one of those little subunits comes from an individual ovary.
4. And those subunits are actually drupes.” Each drupe contains a seed; that’s why wild raspberries and blackberries are so crunchy, according to Jernstedt.

Because these types of fruit consist of so many drupes, they’re called aggregate fruit, Jernstedt said. A strawberry is also an aggregate fruit, but instead of having multiple drupes, it has multiple achenes, the little yellow ovals on the fruit’s surface, which each contain a seed. Like other berries, bananas are composed of three fleshy layers: the outer skin, the mushy middle and the innermost part with the seeds. (Image credit: Shutterstock.com) Oranges are a subtype of berry called hesperidium, said Courtney Weber, a berry breeder at Cornell University in New York.

• Like other berries, oranges have three fleshy layers, have two or more seeds, and develop from one flower with one ovary.
• But citrus fruits contain distinct segments, a property that differentiates these fruits from other berries and gives them the subtype status, Weber said.
• The number of sections is related to the number of carpels, Jernstedt said.) In all, berry categorization “Is kind of chaotic,” Jernstedt said.

“And the scientists feel that way too. There are always attempts to impose some order on fruit classification. But this has been going on for a couple of centuries, so don’t hold your breath that it’s going to be solved soon.” In other words, it can be difficult to classify nature’s many fruits, which evolve without a thought about how scientists will view them.

“Flowering plants have devised a number of ways to produce seed and to get that seed distributed,” Webber told Live Science. “Having the fleshy fruit types that we eat is just nature’s way of getting animals to eat this fruit and seed and distribute them,” Originally published on Live Science, Stay up to date on the latest science news by signing up for our Essentials newsletter.

Laura is the archaeology and Life’s Little Mysteries editor at Live Science. She also reports on general science, including paleontology. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Scholastic, Popular Science and Spectrum, a site on autism research. She has won multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for her reporting at a weekly newspaper near Seattle.

Why are Millennials called strawberries?

What is the Strawberry Generation? – The strawberry generation is a term that describes the phenomenon of today’s young generation. Where they usually have high ideas and creativity, but when given a little pressure they break easily like strawberries.

1. As mentioned by Prof.
2. Rhenald Kasali in his book entitled Strawberry Generation, he stated that this generation is a generation that has many bright ideas and high creativity.
3. But unfortunately, they are very easy to give up, easily hurt, slow, selfish, and pessimistic about the future.
4. If traced back, the term strawberry generation first appeared in Taiwan to describe the younger generation who were born after 1981 (post-80) and have difficulty dealing with social pressure unlike their parents when they were young.

Over time, much debate has arisen regarding the existing year groupings for this term. Not a few people believe that the term is more appropriate for those who have behaved like a strawberry.

What does the strawberry TikTok mean?

What does the strawberry question test on TikTok reveal? – People on TikTok are using answers to the strawberry question test, to determine how likely it is that your partner would cheat. A “yes” to taking the strawberries in the field signifies a higher propensity to be unfaithful.

This is heightened even more by the willingness to climb the fence and the number of strawberries taken. Whilst the choice to indulge in the fruit has no actual bearing on the likelihood of cheating, it has made for some funny responses. The comment sections of these videos are full of other users who have partaken in the trend, sharing the responses they received from their partners.

Here are some of the best ones: @julieandcorey The confusion 💀💀 #strawberryquestion #textingprank #prankonboyfriend ♬ original sound – 💟 @jadeetai i enjoyed this a lot | inspo: @Tiff #fyp ♬ original sound – 💟 Some partners passed the the strawberry question TikTok test with flying colours: @nseyda he passed 😳 #CloseYourRings #ArbysDiabloDare #strawberryquestion ♬ original sound – 💟

Why are strawberries called strawberries Wikipedia?

Etymology – The genus name Fragaria derives from fragum (” strawberry “) and -aria, a suffix used to create feminine nouns and plant names, The Latin name is thought in turn to derive from a PIE root meaning ” berry “. The genus name is sometimes mistakenly derived from fragro (“to be fragrant, to reek”).

The English word is found in Old English as streawberige, It is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, though it has been suggested that the word is possibly derived from “strewn berry” in reference to the runners that “strew” or “stray away” from the base of the plants.

Streaw in Old English means ‘straw’, but also streawian means ‘to strew’, from the same root. David Mikkelson argues that “the word ‘strawberry’ has been part of the English language for at least a thousand years, well before strawberries were cultivated as garden or farm edibles.”

What is strawberry in Greek mythology?

Strawberry Historical Facts: –

Strawberries are thought to have been cultivated in ancient Rome. The strawberry, as we know it, was originally grown in northern Europe, but species are also found in Russia, Chile, and the United States. The berries seem to be strewn among the leaves of the plant. The plant first had the name strewberry, which later was changed to strawberry, In France strawberries were cultivated in the 13th Century for useas a medicinal herb. Historical Medicinal Uses of Fragaria Vesca (Alpine Strawberry): It is said that the leaves, roots and fruits of this variety of strawberry were used for a digestive or skin tonic. Internally, the berry was used for diarrhoea and digestive upset, while the leaves and the roots were used for gout. Externally, it was used for sunburn and skin blemishes, and the fruit juice was used for discoloured teeth. The first American species of strawberries was cultivated about 1835. The first important American variety, the Hoveg, was grown in 1834, in Massachusetts. The hybrid variety was developed in France. The strawberry is considered one of the most important small fruits grown in the Western Hemisphere. Today every state in the United States and every province in Canada grows the strawberry plant.

Strawberry Horticulture Facts:

The strawberry is a small plant of the Rosaceae (Rose) family. All varieties of the strawberry plant belong to the Fragaria genus. It grows both as a wild plant and as a cultivated plant. Some strawberries, called everbearing, produce berries throughout the summer and fall. Strawberry plants can be planted in any garden soil. But the richer the soil, the larger the crop. The plant grows best in a cool, moist climate and does not do well in warm temperatures. The plants may be planted in the spring or fall, but if the temperature is too cold, fall planting requires a great deal of care. The strawberry grows close to the ground on the stem in groups of three. The greenish white fruits turn to a rich red colour when they ripen. When the strawberry ripens, the petals of the flower fall off and all that remains is the calyx, a leafy substance shaped like a star. Not every flower produces fruit. Strawberries are not really berries or fruit in the “botanical” sense (i.e., the end result of a fertilized plant ovum). A strawberry is actually an “aggregate fruit” – the “real” fruit are the objects we think of as the “strawberry seed” – properly called “achenes” – which are fruits in the same way that a raw sunflower seed with it’s tough shell is a fruit. The “berry” is actually an “enlarged receptacle” and is not reproductive material. As a result, strawberries must be picked at full ripeness, as they cannot not ripen once picked. The strawberry plant has seeds on the outside skin rather than having an outer skin around the seed, as most berries do. They do not however, normally reproduce by seeds. When the fruit is developing, the plant sends out slender growths called runners. These look like strings. They grow on the ground and send out roots in the soil. The roots produce new plants which grow and bear fruit. Sometimes these plants are taken from the soil and replanted to start a new plantation of strawberry plants.

Ancient Medical Uses: The roots, leaves, and fruits of the Alpine Strawberry, Fragaria Vesca, were used as a digestive aid and skin tonic. The berry was prescribed for diarrhea and digestive upset, while the leaves and roots were supposed to relievie gout.

The berry itself was rubbed on the skin to ease the pain of sunburn and to relieve blemishes. The juice of the strawberry has its own special prescription-it brightened discolored teeth. The ancient Romans were staunch believers in the curative powers of the strawberry. They believed it relieved melancholy and masked bad breath.

According to the ancients, strawberries could cure inflammations, fevers, throat infections, kidney stones, gout, fainting spells, and diseases of the blood, liver, and spleen. Interesting Strawberry Facts:

“Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.” (Dr. William Butler, 17 th Century English Writer) Dr. Butler is referring to the strawberry. Strawberries are the best of the berries. The delicate heart-shaped berry has always connoted purity, passion and healing. It has been used in stories, literature and paintings through the ages. In Othello, Shakespeare decorated Desdemonda’s handkerchief with symbolic strawberries. Madame Tallien, a prominent figure at the court of the Emperor Napoleon, was famous for bathing in the juice of fresh strawberries. She used 22 pounds per basin, needless to say, she did not bathe daily. In parts of Bavaria, country folk still practice the annual rite each spring of tying small baskets of wild strawberries to the horns of their cattle as an offering to elves. They believe that the elves, who are passionately fond of strawberries, will help to produce healthy calves and abundance of milk in return. The American Indians were already eating strawberries when the Colonists arrived. The crushed berries were mixed with cornmeal and baked into strawberry bread. After trying this bread, Colonists developed their own version of the recipe and Strawberry Shortcake was created. In Greek and Roman times, the strawberry was a wild plant. The English “strawberry” comes from the Anglo-Saxon “streoberie” not spelled in the modern fashion until 1538. The first documented botanical illustration of a strawberry plant appeared as a figure in Herbaries in 1454. In 1780, the first strawberry hybrid “Hudson” was developed in the United States. Legend has it that if you break a double strawberry in half and share it with a member of the opposite sex, you will fall in love with each other. The strawberry was a symbol for Venus, the Goddess of Love, because of its heart shapes and red color. Queen Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII had a strawberry shaped birthmark on her neck, which some claimed proved she was a witch. To symbolize perfection and righteousness, medieval stone masons carved strawberry designs on altars and around the tops of pillars in churches and cathedrals. The wide distribution of wild strawberries is largely from seeds sown by birds. It seems that when birds eat the wild berries the seeds pass through them intact and in reasonably good condition. The germinating seeds respond to light rather than moisture and therefore need no covering of earth to start growing.

Interesting Stawberry Links: http://www.museums.org.za/bio/plants/rosaceae/fragaria.htm http://www.nalusda.gov/pgdic/Strawberry/ers/ers.htm http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch45.html http://www.dobrev.com/ UMMMMMMMMMM!!