Fragaria (/frəˈɡɛəri.ə/)[1] is agenus offlowering plants in therose family,Rosaceae, commonly known asstrawberries for their ediblefruits. There are more than 20 describedspecies and manyhybrids andcultivars. The most common strawberries grown commercially are cultivars of thegarden strawberry, a hybrid known asFragaria ×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.
Strawberries are notberries in the botanical sense.[2] The fleshy and edible part of the "fruit" is areceptacle, and the parts that are sometimes mistakenly called "seeds" areachenes and therefore the true botanical fruits.[2][3]
The semantic motivation behind the English name "strawberry" (fromOld Englishstrēawberie[5]) is unclear. Various suggestions have been put forward. One is that the name derives from the old practice of gathering strawberries by stringing them on a straw or stalk. Alternatively, "straw" may refer to the long, thinrunners found on members of the genus. The term is absent from the otherGermanic languages, which instead use words meaning "earth berry".[6]
There are more than 20 differentFragaria species worldwide. A number of other species have been proposed, some of which are now recognized as subspecies.[7] One key to the classification of strawberry species is that they vary in the number ofchromosomes. They all have seven basictypes of chromosomes, but exhibit differentpolyploidy. Some species are diploid, having two sets of the seven chromosomes (14 chromosomes total), but 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.[8]
The oldest fossils confidently classifiable asFragaria are from theMiocene of Poland. FossilisedFragaria achenes are also known from thePliocene of China.[9]
Fragaria vesca and certain other diploid species can be hybridized and produce fertile offspring (althoughFragaria nilgerrensis appears less compatible).[11]
Mock strawberry (Duchesnea/Potentillaindica) andbarren strawberry (Potentilla sterilis,Waldsteinia fragarioides) are closely related species in other genera which resembleFragaria.
^De Vaan, Michiel (2008).Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages. Brill. p. 239.ISBN9789004167971.
^Bierbaumer, Peter; Sauer, Hans; Klug, Helmut W. & Krischke, Ulrike, eds. (2011)."strēaw-berie".Dictionary of Old English Plant Names. Retrieved2025-05-27.
^Darrow, George M.The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology. New York. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966.online textArchived 2013-08-26 at theWayback Machine
