Fragaria × vescana

Taxobox
name = "Fragaria × vescana"

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image_width = 240px
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Rosales
familia = Rosaceae
subfamilia = Rosoideae
genus = "Fragaria"
species = "F. × vescana"

Fragaria × vescana is a hybrid strawberry cultivar that was created in an effort to combine the best traits of the Garden Strawberry ("Fragaria x ananassa"), which has large berries and vigorous plants, with the Woodland Strawberry ("Fragaria vesca"), which has an exquisite flavour, but small berries.

This cross cannot take place naturally. "Fragaria x ananassa" has eight sets of chromosomes whereas "Fragaria vesca" has only two sets. Repeated attempts to cross these resulted in sterile offspring.

Researchers treated tissue from a "Fragaria vesca" plant with colchicine to create a mutant plant with four sets of chromosomes. This mutant was then crossed with a "Fragaria x ananassa" plant, and vigorous fertile offspring were obtained. The offspring were found to be decaploid, (having ten sets of chromosomes).

"Fragaria × vescana" is not yet commercially important, but remains under development. While the plants are vigorous like their "F. × ananassa" parents, and the berries have the excellent flavour of the "F. vesca" parents, the berries are still quite small.

"F. x vescana" cultivars

The following decaploid strawberries were released by the Swedish breeding program at Balsgård:

Annelie (1977)

Sara (1988) — Annelie x [(Sparkle x "F. vesca" 4x) open pollinated]

Rebecka (1998) — (Fern x "F. vesca" 4x) x "F. x ananassa" F861502

German "F. x vescana" cultivars:

Spadeka (1990?)

Florika (1990) — (Sparkle x "F. vesca semperflorens") x Klettererdebeere H.

References

[http://www.actahort.org/books/348/348_4.htm Bauer, A. 1993. Progress in breeding decaploid Fragaria × vescana. "Acta Hort". (ISHS) 348: 60-64]