STRAWBERRY

There are two kinds of wild strawberries in Manitoba. American wild strawberry (F. vesca) is probably the more common variety in the southwestern 1/3 of the province, growing in moist grassland and forest edge habitats. The smooth wild strawberry (F. virginiana) is more often found in drier sites, with well-drained sandy soils, but both species are common throughout Manitoba.

Strawberries are low growing, herbaceous (non-woody) plants that spread by means of runners (stolons): horizontally growing stems that root and produce new plants. Both species flower in May and the fruits are ripe by late June or early July. The "berry" of a strawberry is unlike other berries. It is formed from the enlarged receptacle of the flower and the seeds are located on the outside of the fleshy "berry".

Both kinds of wild strawberries produce delicious small fruits. Because the plants, and berries, are small and close to the ground, wild strawberries are often overlooked by berry-pickers. If you can harvest enough of them they are terrific on cereal and can add flavour to cakes and muffins. It would be hard to pick enough of them to make jams or jellies. Many birds, insects and small mammals will readily make a meal of them.

Our modern large-fruited, commercially-grown strawberry, and its many varieties, are thought to have arisen from the crossing of hardy smooth wild strawberry (F. virginiana) with a large-fruited Chilean species (F. chiloensis). The former was brought from eastern North America to Europe in the 1600's; the latter arrived in Europe later, in the 1700's. Two centuries of selective breeding have produced the huge-fruited varieties found in garden catalogues today.

(Fruits of F.virgininana)