What is really interesting about strawberries is that, from a botanical point of view, they are not berries at all but rather aggregate fruits. In actual fact, the small, yellow ‘seeds’ (or achenes) on the surface of a strawberry are the fruit. The red flesh is just an accessory fruit and provides the achenes with nutrients – nevertheless, strawberries have been a popular ‘fruit’ since the Stone Age.
The garden strawberry we are all familiar with came about in the 18th century; it was very likely due to a chance hybridisation of the American Virginia strawberry and the Chilean strawberry. Today, there are more than a thousand varieties of this healthy fruit and they can be cultivated in virtually any climate zones. The taste of strawberries is very dependent on the weather, however.