The modern strawberries that we use today belong to the genus Fragaria. The fruits that we now consume come from the Americans, a hybrid variety of the strawberries seen in North and South America. It belongs to the class of Magnoliopsida under the division of Magnoliophyta. Rosaceae is the scientific family name of strawberries. The sub family to which this fruit belongs to is known as Rosoideae. There are more than twenty species of named varieties of strawberries found on earth till today. A large variety of hybrids of this fruit is also now available in the market.

The most common varieties of this fruit are grown commercially and belong to the cultivators of Garden Strawberry. The taste of a strawberry fruit basically depends on the cultivator. Strawberry is considered as an accessory fruit. Unlike other fruits the fleshy parts of this fruit is not derived from the ovaries but from the peg at the bottom of the hypanthia that are attached to the ovaries of the plant. For this reason the fleshy part of the strawberry cannot be called as the fruit of the plant. It is the seeds that we find on the outer part of the strawberry constitute the real fruit of the plant.

The typical strawberries that we now see in the market actually come from the Americans who have dared to experiment them with two different varieties of strawberries found in North and South America. This new hybrid variety of strawberries was nothing but an outcome of the attempt made by the European horticulturalists to rectify a mistake of taking only female strawberry plants from South America to their labs. They had no other option but to cross them with the North American varieties to get fruits and seeds from the plants that they had brought from South America.

The genus name of strawberry; Fragaria comes from the term "fragans" indicating the perfumed nature of the flesh of strawberry. This fruit is known for its ability to cure diseases such as digestive disorders and gout. It can also be use as an effective tool to keep the radiance of the skin by making the skin free of blemishes, rashes and for protecting from sunburns. Madam Taliien, a known figure during the French revolution used to take strawberry baths to keep her skin fresh, radiant and free from blemishes. Until the mid of nineteenth century strawberries were considered as poisonous in Argentina.

There exist two versions about the origin of the name strawberry. According to the popular etymology, it is the practice of the cultivators who used to make mulch using straw to protect fruits from rotting hence the name ‘straw’ berry to this fruit. The other version regarding the origin of the name strawberry believes that the name strawberry come from the strewn nature of the plant that spreads around the ground. The preachers of this version believe it to be originated from the Anglo-Saxon verb for ‘strew" meaning to spread around. However there exists no evidence to show whether Anglo-Saxons ever grew strawberries in their land.