When Were Strawberries First Discovered

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.

1. The first mention of strawberries occurred sometime between 234-149 BC in the writings of Cato, a Roman Senator.
2. The first descriptions published were mostly for the medicinal uses of the plant and not for the benefits of the fruit.
3. 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.

When did strawberries first appear?

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.

1. The strawberry fruit was mentioned in ancient Roman literature in reference to its medicinal use.
2. The French began taking the strawberry from the forest to their gardens for harvest in the 14th century.
3. Charles V, France’s king from 1364 to 1380, had 1,200 strawberry plants in his royal garden.
4. 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.

When did Europe get strawberries?

You might think that strawberries are as English as clotted cream and Wimbledon, but you’d be mistaken, says Fiona Davison, Head of Libraries and Exhibitions It is hard to believe now, but strawberries as we know them are a relatively modern horticultural development, the result of crosses between far-flung species from Europe and both North and South America. Small native woodland strawberries have been grown in Britain for centuries, transplanted from the wild to our gardens from the Middle Ages onwards.

Who named strawberry?

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.

1. The first mention of strawberries occurred sometime between 234-149 BC in the writings of Cato, a Roman Senator.
2. The first descriptions published were mostly for the medicinal uses of the plant and not for the benefits of the fruit.
3. 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.

What is the most forgotten fruit?

Pawpaws : America’s Forgotten Fruit.

Did cavemen have fruit?

Image caption, Palaeolithic man cooked and ate a huge range of plants A team of scientists has begun exploring what can be learned from the diet of cavemen who lived more than two million years ago. Research will focus on how the food eaten by hunter-gatherers could enhance modern day nutrition.

• Our ancestors in the palaeolithic period, which covers 2.5 million years ago to 12,000 years ago, are thought to have had a diet based on vegetables, fruit, nuts, roots and meat.
• Cereals, potatoes, bread and milk did not feature at all.
• It was only with the dawn of agriculture (around 10,000 years ago) that our diets evolved to include what we think of as staple foods now.

So are we programmed to eat what we do today – or are we better suited to the diet of our ancestors? Global brand giant Unilever has brought scientists and experts from fields as diverse as evolutionary genetics, anthropology, food science and botany together to find out the answer.