Strawberries are unique among fruits because their small, yellowish-brown speckles appear on the outside. These visible structures are often mistaken for seeds, leading to questions about the strawberry’s botanical classification.
Understanding Strawberry “Seeds”
The small, firm structures on the outside of a strawberry are not true seeds. They are technically called achenes, a specific type of dry, single-seeded fruit. Each achene is a complete fruit, encasing a single true seed. Therefore, what we perceive as “seeds” are actually the strawberry plant’s individual fruits.
The fleshy, red part of the strawberry is not botanically considered a fruit. Instead, it serves as an enlarged receptacle, the part of the flower stalk where the flower organs are attached. Each tiny achene on the surface represents an individual fruit derived from a separate ovary within the original strawberry flower.
The Strawberry’s Botanical Identity
The red part of the strawberry is botanically classified as an accessory fruit or a “false fruit.” This classification arises because the edible portion does not develop from the plant’s ovary, as is characteristic of true fruits. Instead, it forms from the swollen receptacle of the flower, which expands after fertilization. The actual ovaries of the flower develop into the small achenes distributed over this enlarged receptacle.
This botanical distinction also explains why strawberries are not considered true berries, despite their common name. True berries, like blueberries or grapes, develop from a single ovary and typically have multiple seeds. The strawberry’s unique development from the receptacle, with its external achenes, places it in a different botanical category.
Cultivating Strawberries from Achenes
While it is possible to cultivate new strawberry plants from achenes, this method presents several challenges. Each achene contains a viable seed that can be germinated. However, the resulting plants may not grow true to the parent variety. Genetic recombination means that offspring grown from seed often exhibit different characteristics from the parent plant.
For this reason, commercial growers and home gardeners typically prefer propagating strawberries using runners. Runners are specialized above-ground stems that produce new plantlets, which are genetically identical clones of the parent plant. This asexual propagation method ensures that new strawberry plants will yield fruit with the same desirable traits as the original variety.