Strawberries are often perceived as a singular fruit, readily available in grocery stores. However, botanically, a strawberry is not a true berry but an “aggregate accessory fruit,” meaning its fleshy part develops from the flower’s receptacle, not its ovaries. The tiny “seeds” on the outside are actually individual fruits called achenes, each containing a single seed. Beyond familiar supermarket produce, this popular fruit encompasses a surprising variety of types.
Key Strawberry Classifications
The horticultural world categorizes cultivated strawberries primarily by their fruiting habits, which determines when and how they produce berries. This classification helps growers select plants suited to their climate and desired harvest schedule. The three main types are June-bearing, Everbearing, and Day-neutral.
June-bearing strawberries are known for producing a single, substantial crop of large berries over a concentrated period, typically two to three weeks in late spring or early summer. These plants form flower buds in late summer and fall as day length shortens, with these buds developing into fruit the following spring. They are a common choice for commercial production and home gardeners seeking a large harvest for canning or freezing.
Everbearing strawberries, despite their name, usually yield two to three harvests per year: one in late spring or early summer and another in late summer or fall. While their individual harvests are smaller than June-bearers, they offer a more extended fruiting season. These varieties often produce fewer runners, which are horizontal stems that create new plants, directing more energy into fruit production.
Day-neutral strawberries are distinct because their fruiting is not significantly influenced by day length, allowing them to flower and produce fruit continuously throughout the growing season, provided temperatures are suitable. They can yield berries from late spring until the first frost, making them suitable for consistent, smaller harvests. Day-neutral types typically produce smaller fruit compared to June-bearing varieties.
Diverse Cultivated Varieties
Within these classifications, countless cultivated strawberry varieties exist, each with unique characteristics catering to different tastes and uses. These varieties have been developed to offer a range of flavors, textures, sizes, and resistances to disease.
‘Honeoye’ is a popular June-bearing variety known for its bright red, firm berries and good flavor, making it suitable for fresh eating and freezing. Another widely grown June-bearing type, ‘Chandler’, is prized for its high yields and excellent flavor, particularly in warmer climates.
Among the Day-neutral varieties, ‘Albion’ is recognized for its large, firm, conical fruit with good flavor and a glossy red appearance. It also exhibits some disease resistance, contributing to its popularity. ‘San Andreas’ is another notable Day-neutral cultivar, producing large, firm berries with excellent appearance and consistent productivity throughout the season.
For Everbearing types, ‘Ozark Beauty’ is a well-regarded variety that provides consistent yields of sweet, flavorful berries over multiple flushes. ‘Tristar’ and ‘Tribute’ are also common Everbearing selections, both offering good fruit quality and firm textures, though ‘Tristar’ often has a more intense flavor.
Discovering Wild Strawberry Species
Beyond cultivated varieties, wild strawberry species represent the ancestral forms from which modern hybrids originated. These native plants typically produce smaller berries but are often celebrated for their intense, concentrated flavors. They thrive in natural habitats.
Fragaria vesca, commonly known as the woodland or Alpine strawberry, is native to Europe and Asia and produces small, highly aromatic red or yellow fruits. These berries are known for their delicate, intense perfume and flavor, often found in forests and meadows. This species has been consumed since the Stone Age and was historically cultivated before the dominance of larger garden strawberries.
Fragaria virginiana, or the Virginia strawberry, is a North American native species that grows across much of the United States and southern Canada. It produces small, sweet-tart fruits that are much smaller than cultivated varieties. This species, along with Fragaria chiloensis from Chile, hybridized in the 1750s in France to create the modern garden strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa. Wild strawberries spread readily by runners and can form ground-covering colonies in their native environments.