This member of the rose family is not a true berry at all, since it carries its tiny seeds on the outside of its flesh, not within its tissue. Its name probably derives from the way it grows--originally called strewberry because of the way it's strewn over the ground.

Romans were known to relish wild strawberries. Then, in the 1700s, a hybrid was developed between Frangaria chiloensis, the Chilean pine, and Frangaria virginiana (the Scarlet Virginian) that essentially became the modern strawberry. Of the latter, which was mentioned first in Massachusetts in 1621, one colonist in Maryland wrote, We cannot set down a foot but we tread on strawberries.

Alpine strawberries (Frangaria vesca semperflorens), by contrast, grow in clumps and were native to Europe north of the Alps. They were unknown to ancient Greeks; barely mentioned by Romans and early medieval writers; but were greatly popular in England ifrom the 13th century onward.