A small red aggregate fruit with seeds on the outside, a hybrid that emerged in 18th-century France from a chance crossing of North and South American species.
Not a berry — at all
Despite the name, strawberries are not true berries. They are aggregate accessory fruits: each “seed” on the outside is actually a tiny individual fruit (an achene), and the red flesh is the swollen receptacle of the flower, not the ovary tissue.
A garden hybrid
The modern strawberry is a hybrid that didn’t exist in nature until the 1700s. It originated in a French garden where a Chilean strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) — large but bland — happened to be planted next to a Virginia strawberry (F. virginiana) — small but intensely flavored. The chance pollination produced Fragaria × ananassa: large and sweet. Every modern variety descends from that hybrid.
Why the seeds are outside
In most fruits, the ovary swells around the seeds. In strawberries, each carpel of the flower develops into its own small dry fruit (the achene), and the flower’s receptacle expands beneath them — so the achenes end up perched on the surface.
Storage
Strawberries don’t ripen further after picking. Buy them fully colored and fragrant. Refrigerate unwashed in a single layer; wash just before eating. Bruised berries spread mold quickly through a container — sort them first.
Find more fruits by letter
Strawberry starts with S and ends with Y. Browse other fruits along the same letter.
Fruits that contain a letter from "Strawberry":