My musings on the strawberry came about due to the sheer quantity of strawberries being consumed in my house by the two smallest occupants. You have them to thank for this post.
Strawberries aren’t actually berries! I know, I know. It’s right there in the name: strawberry. But a berry is a fleshy fruit with one to many seeds embedded in a pulpy interior; think blueberries. As you may have noticed, strawberry seeds are not embedded in a pulpy interior. They’re on the exterior.
BUT, those pesky “seeds” on the exterior? Well, those are each individual fruits! I know. It’s wild.Those little brown flecks, which we now know aren’t actually seeds, are called achenes - small, dry, indehiscent, unicarpellate fruits
At this point you may be asking, “if the strawberry isn’t a berry, and the seeds aren’t actually seeds, what in the world are we eating?” The answer?
You’re eating an accessory aggregate fruit. An aggregate fruit arises from a single flower that has several ovaries. Those ovaries join together as they develop after fertilization. Raspberries are true aggregate fruits. Strawberries get that extra identifier “accessory” because the fleshy part of the “fruit” (remember, the “seeds” on the outside are the actual fruit in this case) isn’t derived from ovary tissue. In the case of strawberries, it comes from an enlarged receptacle.
It turns out that here in the United States, we quite enjoy eating these accessory aggregate fruits; to the tune of 3.4-7.2 lbs per person annually. I’m fairly certain that my two small children have each already consumed amounts on the upper end of that range, and we’re only in June. Which, in Utah, is only the beginning of local strawberry season.
It’s thanks to California (and Mexico) that we’ve been feasting on strawberries since March. California grows a full 90% (ninety percent!) of all the strawberries grown in the United States. On less than <1% of California’s farmland. I find this really incredible. If you, too, want to dive down the rabbit hole of California strawberry data you can do so at calstrawberry.com
Though the great majority of strawberries consumed in the United States were grown in California, strawberries themselves are native to many parts of the world. In fact, the modern strawberry varieties we enjoy today can all trace their lineage back to the Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) and the Chilean strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis).
Now, I don’t know why this just tickles my fancy so much, but the (more or less accidental) cross of Fragaria virginiana and Fragaria chiloensis happened in France! Two strawberries, from two different parts of the world. Each valued for different things - one was super tasty, one was super big - came together in a garden in France and gave us Fragaria ananassa. (Ok, so maybe there was a bit more to the story than I summed up here, but if you’re interested in all the nitty-gritty details, here is the link to the exhaustive book The Strawberry.)
Now, go enjoy a strawberry!
And, while you’re eating your strawberries, why not share this with someone else who might enjoy it.
P.S. If you’re looking for some more strawberry-themed reading, but aren’t quite up to the 500 pages of The Strawberry, may I suggest The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story? I found the story and the illustrations quite delightful.
Strawberries
Hey, I think we might own that children's book! I'll have to look around to be sure. And read it, obviously. Love love love this post!! 🍓
I love this! I ate a handful of strawberries this morning as I was weeding. What a wonderful treat! Each bite was a burst of flavor. I think I"ll check out the picture book:)