Strawberries are one of the most typical flavors of cakes, ice creams and pastries. Strawberries, with their sweet and slightly citric taste, are one of the most popular fruits in our gastronomy, ideal for desserts accompanied by cream, milk or simply sugar.
Sometimes it’s worth taking a step back from what we take for granted or think we know, and in the case of strawberries, if you look at them from a certain angle or point of view, you You are sure to find their shape and characteristics most mysterious.
Think, for example, of these white or yellow dots that cover the entire red surface: are these seeds, like those of the classic watermelon? Not really, they are called achenes and are the fruits of the plant, each of which contains a seed inside. Achene is a term used to refer to the dried fruit produced by many species of flowering plants, such as quinoa, wheat or cannabis. But… wait a minute. If it is the fruit of the plant and not the strawberry itself, then what is strawberry – a berry?
Strawberries, unlike berries, are actually the swollen tissue that keeps the seed-bearing fruit on its surface.
Strawberries are actually a genus of creeping, stoloniferous plants in the Rosaceae family, to which raspberries and blackberries also belong. On the other hand, as indicated an article from IFL Sciencea berry is a vegetable fruit containing at least one seed and consisting of an outer skin (exocarp), a fleshy center (mesocarp) and an inner shell containing more seeds (endocarp).
A berry, not a fruit
The berries arise from a single ovary of an individual flower and are of two types: some belong to the taxonomic group Hesperidae and are classified as modified berries (orange or lemon), while others are cucurbits, which belong to the cuponid group (pumpkins, cucumbers and watermelons). Strawberries, unlike berries, are actually the swollen tissue that supports the fruit with the seed on its surface. This is why they are considered berries.
Unlike other fruits, when the strawberry flower is pollinated, the fruit does not swell, but the endocarp tissue does. On the other hand, the inside of the fruit separates into small dry achenes. And since the achenes contain only one seed, we can no longer speak of a berry. This is the reason why most strawberries are not even grown from seeds, but grow by stolon, that is, from small clones that take root and start growing as soon as they reach the ground.
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