Garden strawberries are a common kind of strawberry cultivated worldwide. Like other species of
Fragaria (strawberries), it belongs to the family
Rosaceae. Technically, it is not a
fruit, but a
false fruit,
[1] meaning the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries (
achenes) but from the peg at the bottom of the bowl-shaped
hypanthium[2] that holds the ovaries.
[3][4]The garden strawberry was first bred in Brittany, France in 1740 via a cross of Fragaria virginiana from eastern North America , which was noted for its flavor, and Fragaria chiloensis from Chile brought by Amédée-François Frézier, which was noted for its large size.[5]
Cultivars of Fragaria × ananassa have replaced, in commercial production, the woodland strawberry, which was the first strawberry species cultivated in the early 17th century.[6]
Strawberry cultivars vary remarkably in size, color, flavor, shape, degree of fertility, season of ripening, liability to disease and constitution of plant.[7] Some vary in foliage, and some vary materially in the relative development of their sexual organs. In most cases the flowers appear hermaphroditic in structure, but function as either male or female.[8] Originally straw was used in cultivating the plant, which may have led to its name.[9]
