Strawberry
Also called Garden strawberry · StrawberriesFragaria × ananassa · Rosaceae family
A berry to buy ripe, keep cool and enjoy while its fragrance is still lively.
Find it near DetroitGet to know it
The garden strawberry is a bright red, juicy, sweet and fragrant fruit of the rose family, 2.5 to 7.5 cm (1 to 3 in) long and dotted with 150 to 200 tiny seeds. It began as a garden accident in 18th-century France, and in 2024 the world grew 10.7 million tonnes.
What it is
A strawberry is 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.5 cm) long. The sweet red flesh holds 150 to 200 little seeds on its skin, each one a tiny fruit of its own. Its red comes from a pigment called pelargonidin-3-glucoside. Good berries are fragrant, sweet and juicy.
Some varieties stay pale even when ripe and look like unripe berries. Strawberries belong to the rose family. Two wild species of the United States, the woodland strawberry and the Virginia strawberry, are smaller and sweeter than today's garden berries.
Where it comes from
Wild strawberries grow in North and South America, Europe and Asia. The French were the first to try growing them in home gardens, around the 14th century. The garden strawberry came later: in 1714 Amédée-François Frézier brought the big Chilean strawberry to France, and in the 1750s, in Brittany, it crossed with the Virginia strawberry from eastern North America.
In 2024 the world grew 10.7 million tonnes, 38% of it in China. California grows 90% of the strawberries in the United States, along the coast from Santa Cruz to Santa Maria and Ventura. In India, the hills of Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani in Maharashtra had more than 1,800 growers on 2,000 acres in 2010, harvesting about 20,000 tonnes a year.
How it's eaten where it grows
In Japan, the Christmas cake is a sponge cake with white cream and strawberries, eaten on Christmas Eve, and spring brings ichigo daifuku, a soft round of mochi wrapped around a strawberry and a sweet filling, most often bean paste. France has the fraisier, an almond sponge cake layered with pastry cream and strawberries, made in strawberry season.
In Mahabaleshwar, berries brought by the British from Australia go into jams, crushes, milkshakes and strawberry with fresh cream. Algonquin peoples called the berries "seeded heart berries", and Native Americans named June's first full moon the strawberry moon, because it marked the harvest. Strawberries are also made into jam, pavlova and strawberry shortcake.
How it's grown
The strawberry plant is a low evergreen perennial, 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 cm) high and 1 to 2 feet wide. It spreads by sending out runners that root into new plants, and growers usually replace their plants every 3 to 4 years.
June-bearing varieties set their flower buds in the short days of autumn and give one big crop. In Minnesota, day-neutral varieties, which don't respond to day length, fruit from July to October or until the first hard frost. Today strawberries are grown on raised beds covered with plastic, which keeps the roots warm and moist.
When and where you'll find it
Florida's crop usually runs from December to April, and Plant City calls itself the winter strawberry capital of the world, with a festival in February or early March. In California, plants bear most heavily in May and June. In England, the pick-your-own strawberries at Forde Abbey are usually ready in June and July.
In India, Mahabaleshwar's season usually runs from October–November to April–May, and March is the prime month; the berries spoil fast, so farmers sell them as quickly as they can. Beyond fresh berries, you'll meet strawberries frozen, as jam and preserves, and dried in cereal bars.
Sources · 11
- Business Standard (May 2010)business-standard.com
- California Strawberry Commissioncaliforniastrawberries.com
- Clemson Cooperative Extensionhgic.clemson.edu
- Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Servicesfdacs.gov
- fordeabbey.co.uk
- Japan Watch (uniorb.com)uniorb.com
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolboxplants.ces.ncsu.edu
- The Hinduthehindu.com
- University of California IPMipm.ucanr.edu
- University of Minnesota Extensionextension.umn.edu
- Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgOther pages2345
Get it near Detroit
What it tastes like
As soft as a blueberry, as sweet as a pear≈
More about the taste
Good eating strawberries are fragrant, plump and firm rather than dull and soft — choose them already fully ripe.
For red strawberries, look for fragrance, firm plump flesh, and full red color; pale varieties aren't inferior, and bigger berries aren't necessarily tastier.
A tasting invitation
Try berries from two growers or varieties without looking at their size first. Record aroma, sweetness, acidity and firmness. A larger berry is not automatically the more flavorful choice, and a beautiful shape does not reveal the entire eating experience.
Choose, ripen, store, eat
1ChooseDry, fully red, glossy
Look for
- Dry, fully red, glossy
- Fresh green caps
Choose dry, fully red, glossy berries with fresh green caps. Check the whole pack for bruising or mold, not just the top layer. June-bearing and day-neutral are fruiting habits, not separate species: June-bearers make one short crop from late June to early July, after forming buds the previous fall, while day-neutral varieties flower and fruit repeatedly in moderate temperatures, often July through frost; heat, protection and location shift the calendar. On a farm share or plant label, "June-bearing" means a concentrated crop and "day-neutral" a longer trickle. Florida's season usually runs December through April; California's heaviest production is usually May and June, though its supply can extend into other months. The carton's origin and the berries' condition tell you more than their presence on the shelf.
2RipenStrawberries do not ripen after picking
Strawberries do not ripen after picking. Choose ripe berries and move them into the refrigerator rather than waiting for pale fruit to improve.
3StoreRefrigerate promptly and wash only what you will use now
Refrigerate promptly and wash only what you will use now. For freezing, rinse, dry and hull the berries, freeze in one layer, then transfer to a freezer-safe container.
4EatRinse gently in cool running water, drain and remove the leafy caps
Rinse gently in cool running water, drain and remove the leafy caps. The fruit is eaten whole or sliced; no peeling is needed.
More tips
A useful detail The green cap is part of a useful quality check: look for caps that are fresh-looking and fully attached — a small feature that can distinguish a carefully handled berry from a tired-looking one.
Worth knowing
- For Florida Festival strawberries, harvest timing matters as well as variety, so ask about the picking date.
- Ripe strawberries don't gain fragrance by being kept longer.
- Less-ripe strawberries color up after purchase but don't catch up on flavor; start with fully ripe fruit.
Detroit, Michigan
When it’s good hereUsual monthsJust arrivedAt their bestLast chanceAll yearWhere it is in its usual monthsToday, Oct 22Grown hereIn season in your stateShips fromIn season where it grows
69 growing areas, 21 countriesUsual monthsOur estimated monthsToday, Oct 22
- Aomori
- Aydın
- Baden-Württemberg
- British Columbia
- Cáceres
- California
- Chiang Mai
- East Java
- Espírito Santo
- Ferrara
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Herefordshire
- Kent
- La Libertad
- Mendoza
- Nagano
- Neuquén
- Northern Territory
- Santa Cruz de Tenerife
- South Africa
- Tamil Nadu
- Tasmania
- Yunnan
- You
17 of 43 areas · October
Growing areas by country
- United States13
- Australia7
- Spain7
- France5
- Japan5
- Argentina4
- Canada4
- United Kingdom3
and 16 more countriesand 13 more countries
In coastal South Carolina, June-bearing strawberries are often grown as annual plants, planted in autumn for a spring crop, using raised beds, plastic mulch and protective covers to bring a delicate fruit to market — a regional practice, not a worldwide calendar.
449 varieties
- No variety photo yetCordial
- Taste
- sweet
- Scent
- aromatic
- Feel
- firm
- Juice
- juicy
- No variety photo yetFlame
- Taste
- sweet
- Scent
- aromatic
- Feel
- firm
- No variety photo yetKeepsake
- Taste
- sweet
- Scent
- aromatic
- Feel
- firm
- Juice
- juicy
- No variety photo yetA13-26
- Taste
- sweet
- Scent
- aromatic
- Feel
- firm
- No variety photo yetA13-29
- Taste
- sweet
- Scent
- aromatic
- Feel
- firm
- No variety photo yetA13-72
- Taste
- sweet
- Scent
- aromatic
- Feel
- firm
32 names in 22 languages
Cook it
How to serve it first
Slice a few berries over plain yogurt, then taste the remaining berries whole. If you add sugar or lemon, start with a small amount and reassess; the fruit's variety and harvest stage should determine the adjustment.
16 strawberry festivalsUsual monthToday, Oct 22
Strange but trueHistoryScienceWhere the name came fromCustoms and cultureFood and drinkPeopleA record
If you like Strawberry
Tastes alike
Close relatives
Used the same way
Nutrition, sources
Nutrition
Strawberries, raw · per 100 g
- Carbohydrate
- 7.7 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sugars
- 4.9 g
- Protein
- 0.7 g
- Fat
- 0.3 g
- Vitamin C
- 59 mg
- Potassium
- 153 mg
Photos · 3
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Sources
Strawberry · Fruitopia · checked Sep 23, 2026