black strawberries?

[halloweencat]

i'm reading a book on waddesdon manor, a country house in england. it was famed for its horticulture and gardening as much as for its art collections.

one inhabitant recalls that on a visit to the estate, she was served strawberries that were grown on the estate that were so dark they were almost black. she also notes that, sadly, this variety has died out since then. she referred to them as "black strawberries."

has anyone heard of this variety?

cheers :)

hc

[Gifted Gourmet]

I found black raspberries and black currants and a rock band who call themselves "Black Strawberries" but that was about all ...

Google Gourmet

[Andrew Fenton]

From The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology by George M. Darrow (clickity):

When the Horticultural Society of London established a garden at Cheswick in the spring of 1822, the secretary wrote to members and others in an effort to obtain a collection, as complete as possible, of strawberries which grew in the gardens of Great Britain. He obtained 400 lots which James Barnet, an undergardener in the Fruit Department of the Garden, studied in 1823 and 1824. He reported on them at a meeting of the Society December 7, 1824, in a classic paper named above and published in their Transactions in 1826. For each variety he gave the history, so far as he could obtain it, along with the variety's synonyms and description, then classed the varieties with contrasting characters of each in mind. Of the 6 classes, he listed 26 varieties of the Scarlet (= Virginian), 5 of Black strawberries (= I type of Pine), 13 of Pine (= hybrids), the True Chili (= Chilean), Hautbois or Musky (= F. moschata), Green (= F. viridis), and Alpine and Wood (= F. vesca). His accuracy and breadth of view compares favorably with that of Duchesne.

-Andrew, black belt, Google-fu

[halloweencat]

great googling, andrew. :) seems fitting that you (with your strawberry avatar) should find the goods. in your google travels, did it seem like these species were still available?

cheers :)

hc

[Andrew Fenton]

great googling, andrew.  :)  seems fitting that you (with your strawberry avatar) should find the goods.  in your google travels, did it seem like these species were still available?

Alas, that was the only reference I could find. But it was part of the USDA Strawberry Improvement Project: you could get in touch with them and ask about black strawberries.

[halloweencat]

thanks, andrew. :)

cheers :)

hc