Fragaria x ananassa

Fragaria X ananassa, strawberry (or garden or pineapple strawberry), is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Rosaceae (rose family) is a hybrid cultivar of two wild Fragaria species that is now is cultivated in temperate and semitropical regions worldwide for its delicious fruit. Although other Fragaria species are also cultivated, this hybrid is the primary source of commercially produced strawberries.

The wild progenitors of F. X. ananassa were native to the Americas--F. virginiana, wild strawberry, grows through eastern North America, while F. chiloensis, beach strawberry, occurs from coastal Alaska to California and extends into South America—but the hybrid appears to have originated in Europe in around 1750, as an accidental cross. The hybrid may be more complex, as genetic analysis suggests that it contains genes from other species as well.

Fragaria X ananassa plants have short, woody stems and a basal rosette of compound leaves, with 3 coarsely toothed leaflets. The plants are characterized by stolons--rooting runners that form new plantlets at the tip—that allow them to reproduce vegetatively; commercial propagation is entirely by the runners. Flowers are white and have 5 parts. The strawberry, which ripens to red, is not a true berry, but is a fleshy receptable bearing multiple fruits on the surface—these apparent seeds are actually achenes, small, one-seeded fruits with hard coverings that do not split open (dehisce) when ripe.

Strawberries are often eaten as a fresh fruit, famously in strawberry shortcake, and are also processed into ice creams, jams and preserves, mousses, fruit juice, and various baked goods and candies. Strawberries may also be fermented into wine or liqueur (such as the Italian fragoli).

In 2010, the worldwide commercial production of strawberries was 4.4 million metric tons (mmt), harvested from around 244,000 hectares. Nearly 10% of the area harvested was in the U.S., but that accounted for more than than 25% of the total (1.3 mmt). Strawberry production is particularly important in California, which produces 88% of the U.S. total, valued at around $2.3 billion annually. The U.S. harvest was more than 5 times that of any other country. Other major producers include Turkey, Spain, Egypt, Korea, and Mexico.

Strawberries are particularly susceptible to damage from frost, and became the subject of a famous early field test of releasing genetically engineered organisms into the environment. Research starting in the 1960s had identified a bacterial species, Pseudomonas syringae, that provides nucleation sites for ice crystals to form (the so-called “ice-plus” bacteria). With a single genetic modification, the surface proteins in these bacteria can be altered so that they no longer provide a suitable ice-formation surface. Bacteria altered to have the “ice-minus” gene, developed by the California company, Advanced Genetic Sciences, were tested in a controversial field experiment on strawberries in 1987, in which a bacterial solution was sprayed on the strawberry plants before a frost. Although initial results suggested the modified bacteria did prevent ice formation, concerns about whether releasing these bacteria for commercial application might adversely affect snow and ice formation, with potentially large implications for regional weather patterns, have inhibited widespread use of ice-minus bacteria in strawberry cultivation.

(Bailey et al. 1976, California Strawberry Commission 2012, Domoto et al. 2008, FAOSTAT 2012, Flora of China 2012, Nottingham 2003, van Wyk 2005.)

Fragaria × ananassa (Weston) Duchesne:
China (Asia)
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

Canada

Origin: Unknown/Undetermined

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Unknown/Undetermined

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Foodplant / pathogen
Aphelenchoides fragariae infects and damages stunted, distorted, scarred growth (young) of Fragaria x ananassa
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / pathogen
Aphelenchoides ritzemabosi infects and damages crumpled, distorted leaf of Fragaria x ananassa
Remarks: season: early spring, autumn

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / pathogen
Arabis Mosaic virus infects and damages stunted, spotted and/or crinkled leaf of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
Armillaria mellea s.l. infects and damages Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / sap sucker
hypophyllous Chaetosiphon fragaefolii sucks sap of live leaf of Fragaria x ananassa
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / spot causer
crowded acervulus of Marssonina coelomycetous anamorph of Diplocarpon earlianum causes spots on live, sometimes yellowing leaf of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / feeds on
Harpalus rufipes feeds on seed of Fragaria x ananassa
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
Mucor piriformis is saprobic on rotting fruit of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / feeds on
Cylindrocarpon anamorph of Nectria radicicola feeds on rotten root of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / feeds on
adult of Otiorhynchus rugifrons feeds on live Fragaria x ananassa
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / feeds on
subterranean larva of Phyllopertha horticola feeds on live root of Fragaria x ananassa
Other: unusual host/prey

Foodplant / feeds on
Phytonemus pallidus feeds on live Fragaria x ananassa
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / pathogen
Phytophthora cactorum infects and damages internally brown, necrotic crown of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
Phytophthora fragariae var. fragariae infects and damages dark brown or black root of Fragaria x ananassa
Remarks: season: winter

Foodplant / parasite
Podosphaera aphanis parasitises live Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / feeds on
Pterostichus madidus feeds on seed of Fragaria x ananassa
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / feeds on
Pterostichus melanarius feeds on seed of Fragaria x ananassa
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / pathogen
Raspberry Ringspot virus infects and damages stunted, spotted and/or crinkled leaf of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
Rhodococcus fascians infects and damages stunted, multiply-branched, cauliflower-like shoots (lower) of Fragaria x ananassa
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / pathogen
Septogloeum coelomycetous anamorph of Septogloeum fragariae infects and damages shrivelled flower of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
Strawberry Crinkle virus infects and damages Strawberry Mottle virus infected leaf of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
Strawberry Green Petal phytoplasma infects and damages green, small petal of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
Strawberry Mild Yellow Edge virus infects and damages yellow margined leaf (young) of Fragaria x ananassa
Remarks: season: late summer

Foodplant / pathogen
Strawberry Mottle virus infects and damages Strawberry Vein Chlorosis virus infected leaf of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
Strawberry Vein Chlorosis virus infects and damages Strawberry Mottle virus infected leaf of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
Tomato Black Ring virus infects and damages stunted, spotted and/or crinkled leaf of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
colony of Verticillium anamorph of Verticillium albo-atrum infects and damages browned leaf (outer) of Fragaria x ananassa

Foodplant / pathogen
colony of Verticillium anamorph of Verticillium dahliae infects and damages browned leaf (outer) of Fragaria x ananassa

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNA - Not Applicable