Garden strawberries are a common variety of strawberry cultivated worldwide. Like other species of Fragaria (strawberries), it belongs to the family Rosaceae. Technically, it is not a fruit but a false fruit, meaning the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries (achenes) but from the peg at the bottom of the bowl-shaped hypanthium that holds the ovaries.
The Garden Strawberry was first bred in Brittany, France in 1740 via a cross of Fragaria virginiana from eastern North America , which was noted for its flavor, and Fragaria chiloensis from Chile brought by Amédée-François_Frézier, which was noted for its large size.
Cultivars of Fragaria × ananassa have replaced, in commercial production, the Woodland Strawberry, which was the first strawberry species cultivated in the early 17th century.
