 True Name/ Common Name:
Strawberries – Fragaria _____ . Once again there are too many species to list, but they all belong to the genus Fragaria. Strawberry was derived from the old English word streawberige, which splits to streaw – berige or straw berry. It is unclear whether the name describes the spindly straw-like plant or the way in which the berries seem to be haphazardly arranged, or “strewn” along the ground. Description of Look and Flavor:
The strawberry plant is a small viney bush with little height to speak of. The berries are typically golf-ball sized on average and taper down to a flattened wedge at the bottom. They ripen from small and green to bright red and plump with golden seeds embedded in the flesh. Strawberries, with their intense sweetness, and blood red flesh, have long been considered an aphrodisiac. Growth Period/ Harvest –
There are several types of growth among strawberry species. Most commercial types are June bearers, which means they flower and fruit just once a year in early summer. Everbearing strawberries produce twice a year, in the spring and fall, and day neutral strawberries can have three or more harvests going on all year long. Nutritional Info –
Ounce for ounce strawberries have more vitamin c than citrus fruits. They are also teeming with potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, and vitamin A. Other Uses –
Strawberries have been known to be medicinal since the 13th century and have been used in many folk medicines to aid with gallstones, hepatitis, ulcers, anemia, heart disease, asthma, sleeplessness, hemorrhoids, bad breath, and they apparently have antibiotic qualities as well. History –
Madame Tallien, who was renowned for her beauty during the French Revolution, used to bathe in strawberries to keep her skin radiant. Interesting Facts / Misnomers - Tecchnically, the red flesh of a strawberry isn’t the actual fruit, the seeds are. The red flesh is just a delicious receptacle to display the seeds. They also vary from strain to strain in the number of chromosomes they have ranging from 14 up to 70. Typically the more chromosomes a plant has, the larger itself and its fruit will be. California grows 1.3 of the total 1.5 billion pounds of strawberries produced each year.
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