''Fragaria'' × ''vescana'' is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

strawberry

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, ...

that was created in an effort to combine the best traits of the

garden 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 app ...

(''Fragaria'' × ''ananassa''), which has large berries and vigorous plants, with the woodland strawberry (''Fragaria vesca''), which has an exquisite flavour, but small berries. This cross cannot take place naturally. ''Fragaria'' × ''ananassa'' has eight sets of

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 ...

whereas ''Fragaria vesca'' has only two sets. Repeated attempts to cross these resulted in

sterile Sterile or sterility may refer to: *Asepsis, a state of being free from biological contaminants * Sterile (archaeology), a sediment deposit which contains no evidence of human activity *Sterilization (microbiology), any process that eliminates or ...

offspring. Researchers treated tissue from a ''Fragaria vesca'' plant with

colchicine Colchicine is a medication used to treat gout and Behçet's disease. In gout, it is less preferred to NSAIDs or steroids. Other uses for colchicine include the management of pericarditis and familial Mediterranean fever. Colchicine is taken ...

to create a

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

plant with four sets of chromosomes. This mutant was then crossed with a ''Fragaria'' × ''ananassa'' plant, and vigorous fertile offspring were obtained. The offspring were found to be

decaploid 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 contain ...

, (having ten sets of chromosomes). ''Fragaria'' × ''vescana'' is not yet commercially important, but remains under development. While the plants are vigorous like their ''F.'' × ''ananassa'' parents, and the berries have the excellent flavour of the ''F. vesca'' parents, the berries are still quite small.

''Fragaria'' × ''vescana'' cultivars

The following decaploid strawberries were released by the Swedish breeding program at Balsgård: * 'Annelie' (1977) * 'Sara' (1988) — 'Annelie' × 'Sparkle' × ''F. vesca'' 4×) open pollinated* 'Rebecka' (1998) — ('Fern' × ''F. vesca'' 4×) × ''F.'' × ''ananassa'' F861502 German ''F.'' × ''vescana'' cultivars: * 'Spadeka' (1977) * 'Florika' (1989) — ('Sparkle' × ''F. vesca'' 'Semperflorens' 4x) × 'Klettererdbeere Hummi'

References

Bauer, A. 1993. Progress in breeding decaploid ''Fragaria'' × ''vescana''. ''Acta Hort''. (ISHS) 348: 60-64
vescana Berries Hybrid fruit {{rosoideae-stub