Strawberry the Queen of Berries

The strawberry _ the queen amongst all the berries reached Europe in the year 1712 . "Fragaria chiloensis" was the name given to the sweet cargo brought home by French naval officer Fraisier from distant South America.

It was soon named "la fraise" in his honor in the French-speaking world. The Europeans were astonished, because compared to the wild strawberries, which they had always been familiar with, the red fruits from America were much bigger, fleshier and juicier.

By crossing the "Fragaria virginiana" from North America, some of the finest strawberries were born in 1766 in Holland.