Beach strawberry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Beach strawberry |
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| Scientific classification | |
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Fragaria
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| Species: |
chiloensis
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The beach strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) is a special type of wild strawberry. It's also called the Chilean strawberry or coastal strawberry. This plant is famous because it's one of the two wild strawberries that were mixed to create the yummy garden strawberries we eat today. Garden strawberries are known as F. × ananassa.
Beach strawberries are known for their large berries. You can find them naturally along the Pacific Ocean coasts of North America and South America. They also grow in Hawaii. Scientists think that migratory birds helped spread F. chiloensis seeds. They carried them from the Pacific coast of North America to the mountains of Hawaii, Chile, and Argentina.
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What is the Beach Strawberry?
The beach strawberry is an evergreen plant. This means its leaves stay green all year round. It usually grows to be about 15 to 30 centimeters (6 to 12 inches) tall. Its leaves are shiny and green, with three parts, called leaflets. Each leaflet is about 5 centimeters (2 inches) long.
Flowers and Fruit
The plant produces white flowers in the spring and early summer. The fruit is edible, meaning you can eat it. It's red on the outside but white inside. In some markets in South America, people still sell its fruit as a local treat.
A French explorer named Amédée-François Frézier (1682–1773) was the first person to bring beach strawberry plants back to Europe. This happened a long time ago, between 1712 and 1714.
Types of Beach Strawberries
There are several different types, or subspecies, of the beach strawberry. They grow in different places:
- Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis forma chiloensis
- Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis forma patagonica (found in Argentina and Chile)
- Fragaria chiloensis subsp. lucida (grows along the coast of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California)
- Fragaria chiloensis subsp. pacifica (found along the coast of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California)
- Fragaria chiloensis subsp. sandwicensis – also known as ʻŌhelo papa (grows in Hawaii)
How Many Chromosomes Does It Have?
All strawberries have a basic set of 7 chromosomes. Chromosomes are like tiny packages of instructions inside cells that tell a plant how to grow. The beach strawberry is special because it is "octoploid." This means it has eight sets of these chromosomes. So, it has a total of 56 chromosomes!
These 56 chromosomes are organized into four different groups. Scientists believe that the garden strawberry we eat today has the same chromosome makeup as the beach strawberry. This shows how important the beach strawberry was in creating our modern fruit.
Images for kids
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Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis forma chiloensis
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Beach strawberry at Pacifica State Beach, San Mateo County, California.
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See also
In Spanish: Frutilla chilena para niños
