Fragaria ()[ Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995: 606–07] is a genus of in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible . There are more than 20 described species and many Hybrid plant and . The most common strawberries grown commercially are cultivars of the strawberry, a hybrid known as Fragaria × ananassa. Strawberries have a taste that varies by cultivar, and ranges from quite sweet to rather tart. Strawberries are an important commercial fruit crop, widely grown in all temperate regions of the world.
Description
Strawberries are not berries in the botanical sense.
[Esau, K. 1977. Anatomy of seed plants. John Wiley and Sons, New York.] The fleshy and edible part of the "fruit" is a receptacle, and the parts that are sometimes mistakenly called "seeds" are
and therefore the true botanical fruits.
[E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia: Fragaria virginiana .]
Etymology
The genus name derives from ("strawberry") and , a suffix used to create feminine nouns and . The Latin name is thought in turn to derive from a Proto-Indo-European language root meaning "berry", either *dʰreh₂ǵ- or *sróh₂gs.
The semantic motivation behind the English name "strawberry" (from Old English strēawberie
Classification
There are more than 20 different Fragaria species worldwide. A number of other species have been proposed, some of which are now recognized as subspecies.
As a rough rule (with exceptions), strawberry species with more chromosomes tend to be more robust and produce larger plants with larger berries.[Darrow, George M. The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology. New York. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. online text ]
The oldest fossils confidently classifiable as Fragaria are from the Miocene of Poland. Fossilised Fragaria achenes are also known from the Pliocene of China.
Diploid species
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Fragaria × bifera Duchesne - F. vesca × F. viridis (Europe)
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Fragaria bucharica Losinsk. (China)
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Fragaria chinensis Losinsk (China)
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Fragaria daltoniana J.Gay (Himalayas)
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Fragaria emeiensis Jia J. Lei (China)
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Fragaria gracilis Losinsk. (China)
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Fragaria hayatae Makino (Taiwan)
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Fragaria iinumae Makino (East Russia, Japan)
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Fragaria mandshurica Staudt (China)
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Fragaria nilgerrensis Schlecht. ex J.Gay (South Asia and Southeast Asia)
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Fragaria nipponica Tomitaro Makino (Korea, Japan)
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Fragaria nubicola John Lindley ex Lacaita (Himalayas)
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Fragaria pentaphylla Losinsk. (China)
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Fragaria vesca Carl Linnaeus - woodland strawberry (Northern Hemisphere)
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Fragaria viridis Duchesne (Europe, Central Asia)
Tetraploid species
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Fragaria corymbosa Losinsk. (northern China)
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Fragaria × intermedia (Bach) Beck (Europe)
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Fragaria moupinensis Cardot (China)
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Fragaria orientalis Losinsk. (Eastern Asia, Eastern Siberia)
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Fragaria tibetica Staudt & Dickoré (China)
Pentaploid hybrids
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Fragaria × bringhurstii Staudt (coast of California)
Hexaploid species
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Fragaria moschata Duchesne - musk strawberry (Europe)
Octoploid species and hybrids
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Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne ex Rozier - garden strawberry, pineapple strawberry
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Fragaria chiloensis (Carl Linnaeus) Mill. - beach strawberry (Western Americas)
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Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis forma chiloensis
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Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis forma patagonica (Argentina, Chile)
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Fragaria chiloensis subsp. lucida (E. Vilm. ex Gay) Staudt (coast of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California)
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Fragaria chiloensis subsp. pacifica Staudt (coast of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California)
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Fragaria chiloensis subsp. sandwicensis (Joseph Decaisne) Staudt - ōhelo papa (Hawaii)
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Fragaria virginiana Philip Miller - Virginia strawberry (North America)
Decaploid species and hybrids
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Fragaria cascadensis K.E. Hummer (Cascade Mountains in Oregon)
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Fragaria iturupensis Staudt - Iturup strawberry (Iturup, Kuril Islands)
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Fragaria × Comarum hybrids
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Fragaria × vescana
Polyploidy unknown
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Fragaria tayulinensis S.S.Ying (Taiwan)
Uncategorized hybrids
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'Lipstick' ( Fragaria × Comarum hybrid), red-flowered runnering ornamental, sparse small globular fruits.
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Fragaria vesca and certain other diploid species can be hybridized and produce fertile offspring (although Fragaria nilgerrensis appears less compatible).
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Fragaria moschata can hybridize with diploid species such as Fragaria viridis and Fragaria nubicola but producing a lower proportion of viable seeds.
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Fragaria moschata can hybridize with Strawberry.
Ecology
A number of species of butterfly and feed on strawberry plants.
See also
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Accessory fruit
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Mock strawberry ( Duchesnea/ Potentilla indica) and barren strawberry ( Potentilla sterilis, Waldsteinia fragarioides) are closely related species in other genera which resemble Fragaria.
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Strawberry tree (disambiguation) is a name for several trees that are unrelated to strawberry.
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The breeding of strawberries
Further reading
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Hogan, Sean (chief consultant) (2003), Flora: A Gardener's Encyclopedia, Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. .
External links
