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Fragaria

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Fragaria

Strawberries
Genus:Fragaria
Family:Rosaceae
Type:Perennials
Transplant:Transplanted easily
Pest issues:Some serious
Root:Rhizomes, spreading by stolons.
Toxicity and edibility:Fruits are edible, most are sweet.

The strawberry (Fragaria) is a genus of plants in the family Rosaceae, and the fruit of these plants. 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 x ananassa.

The typical modern strawberry grown as a food crop 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 horticulturists 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.

Fragaria comes from "fragans", meaning odorous, an allusion to the perfumed flesh of the fruit. 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.

Description

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The strawberry is an accessory fruit, meaning that the fleshy part is derived not from the ovaries (which are the "seeds", or achenes) but from the peg at the bottom of the hypanthium that held the ovaries. So from a technical standpoint, the seeds are the actual fruits of the plant, and the flesh of the strawberry is modified receptacle tissue. It is greenish-white as it develops and in most species turns red when ripe.

Growing Conditions

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Varieties

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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).

Diploid species
 
Woodland Strawberry, Fragaria vesca
Tetraploid species
Hexaploid species
Octoploid species and hybrids
Decaploid species and hybrids

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.

Uses

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Maintenance

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Propagation

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Harvest

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Pests and Diseases

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Leaf Spots

Gray Mold

White Mold

Nutrient Deficiencies

  • Boron Deficiency

Aphids

Spittlebugs

Bugs

Earwigs

Thrips

Beetles

Weevils

Caterpillars

Mites

Millipedes

Slugs and Snails

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  •  
    Closeup of the surface of a strawberry
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    Strawberry flowers and developing fruit
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    Harvested strawberries
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    The traditional North European way of gathering strawberries
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    A wild strawberry plant, showing characteristic shape
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    Strawberry farms generally add hives of honeybees to improve pollination
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    A large strawberry.
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    Strawberry farm in DaHu, Taiwan

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fragaria

  • Ann Fowler Rhoads and Timothy A. Block (2000). The Plants of Pennsylvania: An Illustrated Manual. Anna Anisko, illustrator. Morris Arboretum, University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 605–606.
  • P. D. Strausbaugh and Earl L. Core (1977). Flora of West Virginia (Second ed.). Seneca Books, Grantsville, W. Virginia. pp. 490–493.
  • Christopher Brickell and Judith D. Zuk (1997). The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. DK Publishing. p. 443.
  • Staff of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium (1976). Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press. p. 484.
  • Cranshaw, Whitney (2004). Garden Insects of North America: The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs. Princeton University Press. p. 596.
  • Pippa Greenwood, Andrew Halstead, A.R. Chase, Daniel Gilrein (2000). American Horticultural Society Pests & Diseases: The Complete Guide to Preventing, Identifying, and Treating Plant Problems (First Edition ed.). Dorling Kindersley (DK) Publishing, inc. p. 205. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Darrow, George M. The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology. New York. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. Available online.
  • List of Fragaria resources, USDA
  • GRIN Fragaria Taxonomy Database Listing of Fragaria species, also from a USDA website
  • Medicinal uses of strawberries in Armenia
  • Fragaria chiloensis pictures from Chilebosque
  • Strawberry pest management guidelines
  • Crossing of cv. 'Mieze Schindler' with cv. 'Elsanta'


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