Maybe I'm the problem but I didn't see anything in this article that communicated why the white Strawberry business should be saved. I mean I don't want the species to go extinct but I didn't get the sense that was a risk. Is it somehow better than the hybrid strawberry that came back from Europe?
Given the widespread planting of garden strawberry hybrids commercially, I'd expect they'd eventually push out the native cultivar without intentional planting.
But that's back to a conservation issue which the article didn't raise at all. I agree that the species shouldn't go extinct but I don't know if I care how much it's being farmed.
As for the dangers you raised those are all real problems but none of them are specific to this plant.
Chile would be an ideal country to have a high speed rail link going down the whole country. You'd need effectively just 1 rail line to connect everything, the country is inherently 1-dimensional.
Weirdly enough, there aren't even roads connecting the southernmost part of Chile to the north without taking a detour through Argentina, though I guess nature might appreciate the largely untouched conservation zone that separates Patagonia from the north.
> In the 2000s the Chilean state railway company was involved in a huge corruption scandal as well as bad administrative practices. It’s been slowly recovering, but rail services in Chile still leave a lot to be desired.
It's much bigger than the cross breed variety. And it's sweeter as well.
I think the market is simply one of unusual niche fruits, it's probably something the Chilean government itself needs to create.
Ultimately the main problem is that climate change is affecting the natural production of the fruit so if there's no commercial interest for it and the government doesn't care about the cultural importance of it; then it's bound to disappear and that would genuinely be a big loss (at least I'd consdier it a big loss) for cultural and biodiversity reasons.
But I think this problem is genuinely one that needs to be confronted by the Chilean government. It could become a luxury product if you target Asian markets for example.
The white strawberries I've had (dunno if they're Chilean though) are really awesome tasting. They should be saved for that reason, for one, but also because variety is a good thing. Perhaps we will get new varieties just because this one is available at all.
> Maybe I'm the problem but I didn't see anything in this article that communicated why the white Strawberry business should be saved.
This article is not an appeal to you as a reader to save the white strawberry business. It is an article on a website that makes money promoting travel and as such is not written so that the reader is in charge of the future of the fruit.
> Ask about the frutilla blanca anywhere else in Chile and people blink their eyes, bewildered, especially if they’re under the age of 40.
When I studied in Chile a decade ago, everyone knew about this. They were quite proud of being part of the origin of the modern strawberry. I never did find any white strawberries myself though.
I’d love to propagate these via tissue culture for local nurseries but I can’t even seem to find seeds anywhere near me. If anyone has a line on some of these I’d love to hear. I can find many similar varieties of chiloensis but not this one.
Probably because strawberries are not grown from seeds (The visible seeds, is actually, "botanicly", the fruit; the strawberry is the Accessory fruit)
Never knew the strawberry was also part of the colombian exchange, I find it funny that the modified strawberry found it way back to chile, which remind me of the legend about the Calafate, another chilean berry, "whom who eats the calafate always comes back".
The European wild strawberries are very small, but their fragrance is much more intense than of the cultivated strawberries.
Before the import of the American strawberries from which the cultivated strawberries have been obtained, there were no big strawberries in Europe.
A similar relationship exists between the European wild blueberries and the cultivated blueberries brought from America. The European native blueberries are smaller, but more fragrant.
I think the wild blueberries are actually bilberries, at least that was the case in Russia. Closely related and in the same genus, but they’re distinct species. Like the wild strawberries no one has figured out how to cultivate them so there are few commercial sources and supply is constrained.
Some of my favorite memories of preschool was gathering bilberries in the forest behind the school. It was essentially like Halloween with kids coming back sick from eating too much sugar.
The wild/forest strawberries (Fragaria vesca) are very easy to grow. If I can do it, anyone can! The seeds are quite inexpensive and the plants yield generous amounts of berries the first season. There is also a white/yellow variety that is quite yummy.
Are you sure they’re not alpine strawberry varieties? Those look almost exactly alike and are successfully cultivated, but their flavor is closer to garden strawberries than woodland wild strawberries, which are spread via runners not seeds.
I am not an expert at greenery so I am not 100% sure, unfortunately. The ones I have sown are of different varieties; some have runners and some do not. I cannot recall that either variant was harder than the other to grow, and once established they are like weeds…
You are right about the European bilberries being a distinct species.
I have used both "strawberry" and "blueberry" as generic names.
The European strawberry is also a distinct species, but belonging to the same genus with the American strawberries (Fragaria). The same for the European bilberry and the American blueberry that is the ancestor of the cultivated blueberries. They are different species of the same genus (Vaccinium).
Do you mean strawberry plants are typically propagated via runners/stolons? I’d prefer to do that, but I doubt I could get a viable plant in the mail. But a sterilized seed in growing medium with a cytokinin will cause a strawberry “seed” to produce dozens of plants over a few months or so. They’re definitely able to grow, if less efficiently than propagating other ways.
Do you have any advice for this or for identifying why certain strawberries are different? My partner and I have found small patches of small delicious white strawberries in the forest but I tried saving some seeds without any success. There's also a short route in the Cascades with a variety of strawberries that appear to be the same species but change in flavor at various patches from piney, to slightly coconut-y, to concentrated strawberry essence (hard to describe unless you eat fresh wild strawberries) All the patches are at similar elevations and orientations within about 1-2 miles, the most likely explanation I can think of is that the soil is different? I think they are Chiloensis but I plan to go back next year and look more carefully.
Finding strawberries in the woods has ruined store bought berries for my partner. Even farmers market berries are questionable because of the varieties they grow, which I understand, they have a business with different needs.
In order to get the seeds to grow (you may know this already) you typically need to vernalize them, which requires exposing them to very cold temperatures for a while and then warming them. Different species prefer different procedures, but as I recall, most if not all require it in order to get consistent results.
I would recommend bringing some ziplock bags with some damp (not soaked) paper towel next time. Collect a few plants, especially any runners with plantlets that are developing roots which haven’t submerged into the soil yet; they’re highly adaptable and primed to grow, so they will handle transport more easily than an established plant in the soil already. Wrap them gently in the towels and pop them in the bag, and you’re set. They should be okay for a surprisingly long time in there.
I collect plants this way quite often. I like to harvest aquatic plants, mosses, and random interesting terrestrial species which I put into terrariums (to recreate native biotopes), and rarely have anything die.
I’d still try to keep seeds as well if you want to experiment, but definitely research vernalizing. Something I would recommend there is don’t vernalize all of your seeds in one container. Break them out into a few and try removing them at different times. Keep track of the dates, conditions, and success rates. One approach will likely work much better and then you can stick to that procedure. Unless you don’t care enough and one successful run is enough for a lifetime, haha. I do this stuff often so that’s kind of baked into my M.O.
You know what's interesting? I watched a video the other day, maybe max miller?, about strawberries in europe and they used to only be able to be gathered in the forest as you say and were never conducive to agriculture. Once the big strawberries were discovered in the new world, they cross bred them but they lost a lot of flavor but could be grown. I never even considered wild forest strawberries but I want to try one now.
If you're ever in california and have money to burn, try harries berry's. They are tiny little delights and VERY tasty
Oh man, the strawberries here in BC are incredible. They appear in the woods and various other areas, usually in small patches with relatively few berries. But they make up for their scarcity with flavour. It’s exceptional.
If you head into any alpine terrain in mid September you will find endless huckleberry (red and black), bog and alpine blueberries, and various others. They’re all absolutely incredible. I head into the mountains (usually via Strathcona provincial park’s various southern access points) this time of year to collect buckets upon buckets for my freezer.
Nothing in a store compares. Even fresh farmed blueberries, which are really nice here, are almost disappointing compared to the varieties that have grown along the slopes of the mountains. They’re such a treat. You do have to work for them, though.
From your reply to me up above I'd guess you've probably checked out the sundew bog next to Campbell lake? We did a couple of the short hikes this summer on a quick day trip exploring the island, next year we're going back to see more. The saprophytic plants near Karst creek were cool to search for too.
No, I haven't! I had no idea they're there. Thanks for mentioning it! I don't have plans to go that way soon, but I will eventually. Do you know what the best season for them is? I'm guessing they're perennial and not great to check out in fall? This sounds awesome.
For the saprophytes I don't know if they have a seasonal pattern. Truly I don't know much about them at all.
The sundews I grow tend to die back in the fall, so it might be coming to the end of their season soon. We were there in June. There are 2 species of sundews there that I saw, they look similar but if you get close to the ground you can see there are different heights/shapes and I think they tend to catch different insects as a result.
Drosera anglica and rotundifolia. There's also pinguicula vulgaris that's carnivourous and has a purple flower.
I want to say we saw sundews somewhere else on our trip, maybe out towards the coast like Ucluelet or Port Renfrew area?
I’ve been deep diving on this since your comment. Did you maybe see some at the bog near tofino? That’s a popular one in the general area of Ucluelet that seems promising.
I have no idea why I hadn’t considered looking for these kinds of plants on the island, but thanks again! I’ve got heaps of places to check out over the next year or two. I’m absolutely stoked!
I went and looked at our pictures it was the bog boardwalk in Ucluelet but the shorepine bog trail also had them. I don't know if both species of sundew were there, I didn't know to look for different types.
inaturalist is pretty good for finding reports of them.
I grew up in appalachia so our mountain produce is a little different but my favorite wild treat would be the muscadine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitis_rotundifolia). A wild mountain grape that has a hard skin but fantastic flavor. We make wine and jam out of them too but I love just eating a whole basket.
We also have wild blackberries and blueberries and we have a sugar cane type plant called sorghum that makes a really rich smokey syrup that goes great on biscuits.
That's so fascinating! I know nothing about native species around there. Muscadine sounds awesome from reading about it. I'd love to have something like that around here.
Sorghum is such a great food. I wish it was easier to access here as well. As a cereal it's incredibly nutritious, much more so than what's commonly available, but it's rare to see it in any form at all. "Rich smoky syrup" sounds nice too. Is it made from boiling the grains, or for the stalks/canes?
I strongly recommend going out to collect the wild strawberries (and wild bilberries!) if you’re ever visiting Europe when they’re fruiting. They’re one of the things I miss most about living in Europe. Even the best California strawberries picked ripe off the vine don’t come close.
Once in a while one of my local Russian restaurants or grocery stores will have wild strawberry jam imported from Europe. Usually $15+ a bottle and I buy out every single one they’ll let me (my favorite store now sets aside half the stock for me). They make the perfect gift too.
I've recently been on a hunt for farmer's cheeses and visiting Eastern European grocery stores, I'll have to look for that jam.
On the Bilberry front, I found a book about the vaccinium species of North America to try and identity the different huckle/blue/bilberrries around here. And the various rubus' that are not commercially grown but still taste good.
My partner and I are not Foragers(TM) but I'm always interested in food and I talked them into joining me on hikes in the spring as a chance to scout berry patches. So far it has worked. Unfortunately the cloudberries I found this summer were in a place I haven't been back to, so I still haven't picked them myself.
The word to look for is «земляника» since I don’t remember any English text on the bottles. Most of them are now from Belorus which I suspect is a dodge around sanctions.
Different subspecies/forma. The Chilean frutillas blancas are F. chiloensis ssp. chiloensis f. chiloensis. They also also have red ones though, F. chiloensis spp. chiloensis f. patagonica.
The native Beach strawberries to the US west coast are F. chiloensis ssp. pacifica, though F. chiloensis ssp. lucida from Canada were introduced.
I think I have seen white chiloensis in the Washington Cascades. The fruits are small, pinky nail sized. Next summer I'll go back and try to get a better ID.
I'm disappointed not to find a description of their taste. The best I'm getting is "pineapple-like fragrance", which is an intriguing start. Is it sweet? Tart? Bitter? Or does it taste like garden strawberries, just looks different?
