Difference between revisions of "Strawberry" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
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''20+ species; see text''
 
''20+ species; see text''
 
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'''Strawberry''' is any of the various, low-growing perennial plants of the [[genus]] '''''Fragaria''''' in the rose family ([[Rosaceae]]''), as well as the name for the red, edible, aggregate [[fruit]] of this plant. There are more than 20 named [[species]] and many hybrids and [[cultivar]]s. The most common strawberries grown commercially are cultivars of the [[garden strawberry]], ''Fragaria'' × ''ananassa''.  
+
'''Strawberry''' is any of the various, low-growing perennial plants of the [[genus]] '''''Fragaria''''' in the rose family ([[Rosaceae]]), as well as the name for the red, edible, aggregate [[fruit]] of this plant. There are more than 20 named [[species]] and many hybrids and [[cultivar]]s. The most common strawberries grown commercially are cultivars of the [[garden strawberry]], ''Fragaria'' × ''ananassa''.
 +
 
 +
 
 +
Sixteenth-century author William Butler: "Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did" (Herbst 2001).
  
 
==Description==
 
==Description==
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==History==
 
==History==
The typical modern strawberry, of the genus ''Fragaria'', comes from the [[Americas]], and is a hybrid of both North and South American varieties. Ironically, the crossbreeding was done in Europe to correct a mistake; the European [[horticulturist]]s had only brought female South American plants, and were forced to cross them with the North American variety in order to get fruit and seeds.
+
Strawberries have been appreciated for centuries, with the Romans valuing the fruit for its reputed therapeutic powers, but it was first cultivated in the 13th century (Herbst 2001).
 +
 
 +
The garden strawberry (''Fragaria x ananassa'' and related cultivars) is the most common variety of strawberry cultivated worldwide. It originated in Europe in the early 18th century, and represents the accidental cross of ''Fragaria virginiana'' from eastern North America (the main native strawberry in the United States), which was noted for its fine flavor, and ''Fragaria chiloensis'' from Chile and noted for its large size. Cultivars of ''Fragaria x ananassa'' have replaced in commercial production the woodland strawberry, which was cultivated in the early 17th century.
  
Fragaria comes from "fragans", meaning odorous, referring to the perfumed flesh of the fruit. Madam [[Thérésa Tallien|Tallien]], a great figure of the [[French Revolution]], who was nicknamed Our Lady of [[Thermidorian Reaction|Thermidor]], used to take baths full of strawberries to keep the full radiance of her skin.  
+
Madam [[Thérésa Tallien|Tallien]], a great figure of the [[French Revolution]], who was nicknamed Our Lady of [[Thermidorian Reaction|Thermidor]], used to take baths full of strawberries to keep the full radiance of her skin. [[Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle|Fontenelle]], centenarian writer and gourmet of the 18th century, considered his long life was due to the strawberries he used to eat.
[[Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle|Fontenelle]], centenarian writer and gourmet of the 18th century, considered his long life was due to the strawberries he used to eat.
 
Strawberries were considered poisonous in Argentina until the mid-nineteenth century.{{fact|date=July 2007}}
 
  
==Classification==
+
''Fragaria'' comes from "fragans," meaning odorous, referring to the perfumed flesh of the fruit. The name ''strawberry'' is derived from [[Old English language|Old English]] ''strēawberiġe'', which is a compound of ''streaw'', meaning "straw," and ''berige'', meaning "berry." The reason for this is unclear. It may derive from the strawlike appearance of the runners, or from an obsolete denotation of straw, meaning "chaff," referring to the scattered appearance of the achenes.
There are more than 20 different ''Fragaria'' species worldwide.  Key to the classification of strawberry species is recognizing that they vary in the number of [[chromosomes]]. There are seven basic ''types'' of chromosomes that they all have in common. However, they exhibit different [[polyploidy]]. Some species are diploid, having two sets of the seven chromosomes (14 chromosomes total). Others are tetraploid (four sets, 28 chromosomes total), hexaploid (six sets, 42 chromosomes total), octoploid (eight sets, 56 chromosomes total), or decaploid (ten sets, 70 chromosomes total).
 
  
As a rough rule (with exceptions), strawberry species with more chromosomes tend to be more robust and produce larger plants with larger berries (Darrow).
+
There is an alternative theory that the name derives from the Anglo-Saxon verb for "strew" (meaning to spread around), yielding streabergen. (Strea means "strew" and bergen means "berry" or "fruit"). Thence, the word could have evolved to streberie, straiberie, strauberie, straubery, strauberry, and finally, "strawberry," the word which we use today. The name might have come from the fact that the fruit and various runners appear "strewn" along the ground.
 +
 
 +
[[Popular etymology]] has it that it comes from gardeners' practice of [[mulch]]ing strawberries with [[straw]] to protect the fruits from rot (a pseudoetymology that can be found in non-linguistic sources such as the [[Old Farmer's Almanac]] 2005).
 +
 
 +
==Types==
 +
There are more than 20 different ''Fragaria'' species worldwide.  Key to the classification of strawberry species is recognizing that they vary in the number of [[chromosome]]s. There are seven basic ''types'' of chromosomes that they all have in common. However, they exhibit different [[polyploidy]]. Some species are diploid, having two sets of the seven chromosomes (14 chromosomes total). Others are tetraploid (four sets, 28 chromosomes total), hexaploid (six sets, 42 chromosomes total), octoploid (eight sets, 56 chromosomes total), or decaploid (ten sets, 70 chromosomes total).
 +
 
 +
As a rough rule (with exceptions), strawberry species with more chromosomes tend to be more robust and produce larger plants with larger berries (Darrow 1966).
  
 
;Diploid species
 
;Diploid species
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===Diseases===
 
===Diseases===
 
{{Main|List of strawberry diseases}}
 
{{Main|List of strawberry diseases}}
 
==Etymology==
 
 
The name is derived from [[Old English language|Old English]] ''[[wiktionary:streawberige|strēawberiġe]]'' which is a compound of ''streaw'' meaning "straw" and ''berige'' meaning "berry". The reason for this is unclear. It may derive from the strawlike appearance of the runners, or from an obsolete denotation of straw, meaning "chaff", referring to the scattered appearance of the achenes. 
 
 
Interestingly, in other Germanic countries there is a tradition of collecting wild strawberries by threading them on straws. In those countries people find ''straw-berry'' to be an easy word to learn considering their association with straws.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} (In fact, in almost all other Germanic languages besides English, the name of the fruit corresponds to "Earth-Berry", so this claim is dubious.)
 
 
There is an alternative theory that the name derives from the Anglo-Saxon verb for "strew" (meaning to spread around) which was streabergen (Strea means "strew" and Bergen means "berry" or "fruit") and thence to streberie, straiberie, strauberie, straubery, strauberry, and finally, "strawberry", the word which we use today. The name might have come from the fact that the fruit and various runners appear "strewn" along the ground.
 
 
[[Popular etymology]] has it that it comes from gardeners' practice of [[mulch]]ing strawberries with [[straw]] to protect the fruits from rot (a pseudoetymology that can be found in non-linguistic sources such as the [[Old Farmer's Almanac]] 2005). However, there is no evidence that the Anglo-Saxons ever grew strawberries, and even less that they knew of this practice.<!--see talk page for some discussion on this claim—>
 
  
 
==Gallery==
 
==Gallery==
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</center>
 
</center>
  
==Trivia==
 
{{Trivia|date=June 2007}}
 
 
<!--
 
*The Norwegian municipalities of [[Norddal]] and [[Kvæfjord]] have strawberries in their [[coat-of-arms]].
 
*The strawberry is the state fruit of [[Louisiana]].
 
*The city of [[Ponchatoula]] in Louisiana bills itself as "The Strawberry Capital of the World"
 
—>
 
 
<!-- I'm not sure how any of these could be put into the article without introducing a worldview problem. Even the information about why that southern city bills itself such belongs more in the article about the city than in strawberries in general. A lot about the composition, care, feeding, and use (wine) of strawberries isn't here. —>
 
 
==See also==
 
{{commons|Strawberry}}
 
*[[Garden Strawberry]]
 
*[[Epigynous berry]]
 
<br clear="both" />
 
  
 
==References and external links==
 
==References and external links==

Revision as of 20:04, 20 July 2007

Strawberry
StrawberryWatercolor.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Rosoideae
Genus: Fragaria
L.
Species

20+ species; see text

Strawberry is any of the various, low-growing perennial plants of the genus Fragaria in the rose family (Rosaceae), as well as the name for the red, edible, aggregate fruit of this plant. There are more than 20 named species and many hybrids and cultivars. The most common strawberries grown commercially are cultivars of the garden strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa.


Sixteenth-century author William Butler: "Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did" (Herbst 2001).

Description

Fragaria is a genus of plant in the family Rosaceae. Rosaceae is one of the largest families of flowering plants with about 3,400 species, including apples, berries, peaches, plums, cherries, the hawthorn tree, the mountain ash, and many others.

Fragaria are low herbaceous perennial plants that have compound leaves with three hairy, sawtooth edged leaflets. The flowers are white and grow in clusters on thin stalks. In addition to the seeds produced by these flowering plants, strawberries spread by stolons as they get older.

The fleshy, edible strawberry "fruit" is technically not a single fruit nor a berry. It is an accessory fruit; that is, the fleshy part is derived not from the ovaries, which yield the "seeds" (actually achenes), but from the peg at the bottom of the hypanthium that held the ovaries. (The hypanthium is the bowl-shaped part of a flower consisting of the bottoms of the sepals, petals, and stamens stuck together). So from a technical standpoint, the seeds are the actual fruits of the plant, and the flesh of the strawberry is modified receptacle tissue, which contains numerous partially embedded fruits (seeds). It is whitish-green as it develops and in most species turns red when ripe.

History

Strawberries have been appreciated for centuries, with the Romans valuing the fruit for its reputed therapeutic powers, but it was first cultivated in the 13th century (Herbst 2001).

The garden strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa and related cultivars) is the most common variety of strawberry cultivated worldwide. It originated in Europe in the early 18th century, and represents the accidental cross of Fragaria virginiana from eastern North America (the main native strawberry in the United States), which was noted for its fine flavor, and Fragaria chiloensis from Chile and noted for its large size. Cultivars of Fragaria x ananassa have replaced in commercial production the woodland strawberry, which was cultivated in the early 17th century.

Madam Tallien, a great figure of the French Revolution, who was nicknamed Our Lady of Thermidor, used to take baths full of strawberries to keep the full radiance of her skin. Fontenelle, centenarian writer and gourmet of the 18th century, considered his long life was due to the strawberries he used to eat.

Fragaria comes from "fragans," meaning odorous, referring to the perfumed flesh of the fruit. The name strawberry is derived from Old English strēawberiġe, which is a compound of streaw, meaning "straw," and berige, meaning "berry." The reason for this is unclear. It may derive from the strawlike appearance of the runners, or from an obsolete denotation of straw, meaning "chaff," referring to the scattered appearance of the achenes.

There is an alternative theory that the name derives from the Anglo-Saxon verb for "strew" (meaning to spread around), yielding streabergen. (Strea means "strew" and bergen means "berry" or "fruit"). Thence, the word could have evolved to streberie, straiberie, strauberie, straubery, strauberry, and finally, "strawberry," the word which we use today. The name might have come from the fact that the fruit and various runners appear "strewn" along the ground.

Popular etymology has it that it comes from gardeners' practice of mulching strawberries with straw to protect the fruits from rot (a pseudoetymology that can be found in non-linguistic sources such as the Old Farmer's Almanac 2005).

Types

There are more than 20 different Fragaria species worldwide. Key to the classification of strawberry species is recognizing that they vary in the number of chromosomes. There are seven basic types of chromosomes that they all have in common. However, they exhibit different polyploidy. Some species are diploid, having two sets of the seven chromosomes (14 chromosomes total). Others are tetraploid (four sets, 28 chromosomes total), hexaploid (six sets, 42 chromosomes total), octoploid (eight sets, 56 chromosomes total), or decaploid (ten sets, 70 chromosomes total).

As a rough rule (with exceptions), strawberry species with more chromosomes tend to be more robust and produce larger plants with larger berries (Darrow 1966).

Diploid species
Woodland Strawberry, Fragaria vesca
  • Fragaria daltoniana
  • Fragaria iinumae
  • Fragaria nilgerrensis
  • Fragaria nipponica
  • Fragaria nubicola
  • Fragaria vesca (Woodland Strawberry)
  • Fragaria viridis
  • Fragaria yezoensis
Tetraploid species
  • Fragaria moupinensis
  • Fragaria orientalis
Hexaploid species
  • Fragaria moschata (Musk Strawberry)
Octoploid species and hybrids
  • Fragaria x ananassa (Garden Strawberry)
  • Fragaria chiloensis (Beach Strawberry)
  • Fragaria iturupensis (Iturup Strawberry)
  • Fragaria virginiana (Virginia Strawberry)
Decaploid species and hybrids
  • Fragaria × Potentilla hybrids
  • Fragaria × vescana

Numerous other species have been proposed. Some are now recognized as subspecies of one of the above species (see GRIN taxonomy database).

The Mock Strawberry and Barren Strawberry, which both bear resemblance to Fragaria, are closely related species in the genus Potentilla. The Strawberry tree is an unrelated species.

Production trends

File:2005strawberry.PNG
Strawberry output in 2005

FAO reports that USA was the top producer of strawberry worldwide in 2005 followed by Spain.

Pests

A number of species of Lepidoptera feed on strawberry plants; for details see this list.

Diseases

Gallery


References and external links


  • Herbst, S. T. 2001. The New Food Lover's Companion: Comprehensive Definitions of Nearly 6,000 Food, Drink, and Culinary Terms. Barron's Cooking Guide. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series. ISBN 0764112589

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