Fragaria virginiana, known as Virginia strawberry, wild strawberry, common strawberry, or mountain strawberry, is a North American strawberry that grows across much of the United States and southern Canada. It is one of the two species of Fragaria that were hybridized to create the modern domesticated garden strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa).
Description
Fragaria virginiana can grow up to tall. The plant typically bears numerous
trifoliate leaves that are green on top, pale green on the lower surface. Each leaflet is about 10
cm (4
in) long and wide. The leaflet is oval shaped and has coarse teeth along the edge except near the bottom. This plant has a five-
white flower with numerous
, surrounded by yellow-anthered
. There are ten small green
under the petals.
The seeds of this plant are developed from the pistils in the centre of the flower which will become dark-coloured fruit () on the strawberry.[Wendy Deng and Charlie Marshall, Characteristic point, "Fragaria virginiana (Wild Strawberry) Rosaceae" , Retrieved 28 March 2018.] The fruit of the wild strawberry is smaller than that of the garden strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa). Botanically, the fruit is classified as an aggregate fruit accessory fruit, but it is commonly called a berry.
Cytology
All strawberries have a base
haploid count of 7
chromosomes.
Fragaria virginiana is
polyploidy, having eight sets of these chromosomes for a total of 56. These eight genomes pair as four distinct sets, of two different types, with little or no pairing between sets. The genome composition of the octoploid strawberry species has generally been indicated as AAA'A'BBB'B'. The A-type genomes were likely contributed by diploid ancestors related to
Fragaria vesca or similar species, while the B-type genomes seem to descend from a close relative of
Fragaria iinumae. The exact process of hybridization and speciation which resulted in the octoploid species is still unknown, but it appears that the genome compositions of both
Fragaria chiloensis and
Fragaria virginiana (and by extension their hybrid, the cultivated octoploid garden strawberry as well) are identical.
Similar species
The plants resemble
Hesperochiron pumilus, but have distinct leaves and more than five stamens.
Taxonomy
Fragaria virginiana Mill. is considered to be the valid name for this plant by a number of authorities
(and was described by
Philip Miller in 1768
in the eighth edition of
The Gardeners Dictionary).
According to the International Plant Names Index the name,
Fragaria virginiana Duchesne, published by Antoine Nicolas Duchesne in 1766,
is an invalid name.
However, other authorities consider the valid name to be
Fragaria virginiana Duchesne.
Subspecies
There are four recognized subspecies:
- * Fragaria virginiana subsp. (formerly known as F. ovalis)
- * Fragaria virginiana subsp. grayana
- * Fragaria virginiana subsp. platypetala
- * Fragaria virginiana subsp. virginiana
Uses
The berries are edible.
A popular type called "
Little Scarlet" is grown in
Great Britain, having been imported from the
United States in the early 1900s.
In culture
According to Iroquois mythology, the first strawberries
Origin myth out of Earth Woman's heart after she
Maternal death to her
Twin,
Hahgwehdiyu.
External links
