The Origins of the Cultivated Strawberry

The cultivated strawberry originated from a cross between a white-fruited type brought to France from Chile in 1714 and a red-fruited species brought from the Virginia Colony to Europe in the 1600’s.

By the early 1800's a number of plantsmen on both sides of the Atlantic realized that larger, sweeter, strawberries could be made by breeding, growing out seedlings, and selecting the offspring for improved traits.

 
The most successful of these plantsmen was a market gardener, Michael Keens of Isleworth. Using the seed of the large-fruited Chilean strawberry, Fragaria chiloensis, which had been cross-pollinated by the Fragaria virginiana from the American colonies, he bred Keens’ Imperial.

From this variety, which itself created a sensation, he bred Keens’ Sterling. These two varieties were used as parents in raising many strawberry varieties in England, France and The United States, transforming the strawberry industries of these countries.