Popenoe: The Chilean Strawberry 



459 



"They cultivate fields of a species of 

 strawberry different from ours in hav- 

 ing more rounded, thicker and more 

 hairy leaves; the fruits are commonly 

 as large as a walnut, and sometimes 

 the size of a hen's egg; they are whitish 

 red and a trifle less delicate in flavor 

 than our wood strawberries." 



The historian Garcilaso de la Vega^ 

 records the introduction of the species 

 into the highlands of Peru shortly after 

 the Conquest. "Another fruit which 

 they call Chili," he writes, "was 

 brought to Clizco in the year 1557. It is 

 of very good flavor, and much used for 

 presents. It is borne upon a low plant, 

 almost trailing on the ground ; it has 

 little grains outside like the fruit of the 

 madrono (arbutus) and is the same 

 size, not round, but rather long, in the 

 shape of a heart." 



The Spaniards also carried the plant 

 into Ecuador, though I have been un- 

 able to find any record of the exact 

 year in which it reached that country. 

 Father Velasco,^ writing in 1789, calls 

 it fnitilla, or freza quitense (Quito 

 strawberry), and says that the fruit is 

 two or three times the size of the 

 European strawberry. He adds "It is 

 produced through the entire year, and 

 although it is common in several pro- 

 vinces, in no other is it so abundant, 

 nor so excellent, as in that of Ambato." 

 Later writers, also, have praised the 

 strawberries of this fav^ored portion of 

 Ecuador. Richard Spruce,*' though mis- 

 taken as to the botanical identity and 

 origin of the species, comments in the 



following interesting manner upon it: 

 "The Everbearing Andean Strawberry, 

 from the highlands of Mexico, is doubt- 

 less one of those varieties of Fragaria 

 vesca' commonly cultivated throughout 

 the Andes within the tropics, where 

 the perpetual spring of that favoured 

 region has had the effect of rendering 

 the strawberry perennially fruitful, and 

 many of the deciduous-leaved trees of 

 Europe evergreen. In the equatorial 

 Andes the province of Ambato is famed 

 for its strawberries, which equal in size 

 and flavour some of our best varieties, 

 and are to be seen exposed for sale in 

 the market-place of Ambato every day 

 in the year." 



THE STORY OF ITS INTRODUCTION 

 INTO EUROPE 



The introduction of Fragaria chiloen- 

 sis into Europe, because of the impor- 

 tant part it was destined to have in 

 the development of cultivated straw- 

 berries, is worthy of more than 

 passing notice. M. Frezier, a French 

 officer, visited Chile in the year 1712, 

 and spent some time in the region 

 of Concepcion, where he had oppor- 

 tunity to become familiar with this 

 fruit. The classic Duchesne^ gives the 

 following account of his return to 

 France and the successful introduction 

 of the plant into that country : 



"It is to the zeal and perseverance of 

 this alert traveler that Europe owes 

 this fine race of strawberries; I quote 

 from his letter to me: T have re- 

 turned,' says M. Frezier, 'in a merchant 



^ In the "Comentarios Reales," of which the first part was published at Lisbon, in 1609, 

 and the second part at Cordoba in 1617. Thisis one of the classic works on the history of Peru. 



* Velasco, Juan de. Historia del Reino de Quito en la America Meridional. Written in 

 1789, and published at Quito (Imprenta del Gobierno) 1844. 



^ Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes, London, 1908. 



'While Spruce, who traveled in Ecuador during the years 1857-1860 (though his notes 

 were not published until 1908), erred in considering this to be the species cultivated near 

 Ambato, it is worthy of note that the true F. vesca, a native of Europe, has become naturalized 

 in many parts of the Andean region, where it was doubtless introduced by the Spaniards at an 

 early date. In the vicinity of Bogota, Colombia, it grows abundantly at elevations between 

 6000 and 9000 feet, chiefly along roadsides and about cultivated fields, and the fruit is sold in 

 the markets of the city nearly every day in the year. In Ecuador it occurs both wild and 

 cultivated, but the fruit is not much used, the plant being esteemed more as an ornamental than 

 for its berries. These are rarely more than half an inch long, and while somewhat dry, andat 

 times possessing a slightly bitter taste, they are very good when stewed or made into a rich 

 preserve, which latter is one of the favorite desserts of Bogota. In parts of northern Ecuador 

 F. vesca is called /rz///7/a, but in the southern part of the country, where the true fnitilla is grown, 

 the correct Spanish name fresa is current. 



« Duchesne fils, M. Histoire Naturelle des Fraisiers. Paris, 1766. The first published 

 monograph of the cultivated strawberries, and a work of great importance. 



