The musk strawberry or hautbois strawberry (''Fragaria moschata''), is a species of

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

native to Europe. Its French name ''hautbois'' strawberry may be anglicised as hautboy strawberry. The plants are hardy and can survive in many weather conditions. They are cultivated commercially on a small scale, particularly in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The fruit are small and round; they are used in the gourmet community for their intense aroma and flavour, which has been compared to a mixture of regular strawberry,

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...

and

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

. Popular cultivated varieties include 'Capron' and 'Profumata di Tortona'.

Distribution

Musk strawberries grow wild to a limited extent in the forests of Central Europe, north into Scandinavia, and east into Russia. The musk strawberry is found growing along the edges of forests and requires moist and sheltered sites since they do not tolerate temperature fluctuations.

Polyploidy

All strawberries have a base

haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...

count of 7

chromosomes A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

. ''Fragaria moschata'' is usually

hexaploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than one pair of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes, where each set contains ...

, having six pairs of these chromosomes for a total of 42 chromosomes, but due to its history of several

chromosomal duplication Gene duplication (or chromosomal duplication or gene amplification) is a major mechanism through which new genetic material is generated during molecular evolution. It can be defined as any duplication of a region of DNA that contains a gene. ...

events may be a

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...

of 2n = 28, 35, 42, or 56.

Cultivation

Musk strawberry has long been in cultivation in parts of Europe. This species was the first strawberry of any sort with a

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

name, which was ''Le Chapiron'' (1576). By 1591, the cultivar was called ''Chapiton'', then later ''Capiton''. In the early 17th century an illustration appeared in the

Hortus Eystettensis ''Hortus Eystettensis'' (Garden of Eichstätt) is the short title of a codex produced by Basilius Besler, a Nuremberg apothecary and botanist, in 1613 describing the plants of the garden of the Prince-Bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria. The Rena ...

as ''fraga fructu magno''. It was mentioned by Quintinye, gardener to

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

, as ''Capron'' in 1672. At the beginning of the 19th century musk strawberries were the most common garden strawberry in Germany.Wachsmuth, Brigitte: ''Von Monats-, Wald- und Moschuserdbeeren'' 20-28. In: Gartenpraxis 35 4/2009 Cultivation of musk strawberries is similar to that of garden strawberry ( ''Fragaria'' × ''ananassa'') or alpine strawberry (''

Fragaria vesca ''Fragaria vesca'', commonly called the wild strawberry, woodland strawberry, Alpine strawberry, Carpathian strawberry or European strawberry, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the rose family that grows naturally throughout much of the Northe ...

''); the plants thrive in nutrient-rich soils. However, neither female plants nor hermaphroditic plants are self-fertile; they require pollen transfer from a male or a clone of a different hermaphroditic

of the same

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, which is usually achieved by insect

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s. Cultivars: *'Capron royal', hermaphrodite *'Askungen' (Truedsson) hermaphrodite *'Marie Charlotte' (Hans) hermaphrodite *'Bauwens', female *'Capron', female *'Profumata di Tortona', female *'Siegerland', female *'Cotta', male

Notes

External links

*
Den Virtuella Floran
Swedish site with good photos of ''F. moschata''.

''Smithsonian'' article on ''F. moschata'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q148730 Fragaria Plants described in 1766