Amédée-François Frézier (French: [amede fʁɑ̃swa fʁezje]; 1682 – 26 October 1773) was a French military engineer, mathematician, spy, and explorer who is best remembered for bringing back five specimens of Fragaria chiloensis, the beach strawberry, from an assignment in South America, thus introducing this New World fruit to the Old. The standard author abbreviation Frez. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier
Amédée-François Frézier in the context of Strawberry
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; Fragaria × ananassa) is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus Fragaria, the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated for its aroma, bright red colour, juicy texture, and sweetness. It is eaten either fresh or in prepared foods such as jam, ice cream, and chocolates. Artificial strawberry flavourings and aromas are widely used in commercial products. Botanically, the strawberry is not a berry, but an aggregate accessory fruit. Each apparent 'seed' on the outside of the strawberry is actually an achene, a botanical fruit with a seed inside it.
The garden strawberry was first bred in Brittany, France, in the 1750s via a cross of F. virginiana from eastern North America and F. chiloensis, which was brought from Chile by Amédée-François Frézier in 1714. Cultivars of F. × ananassa have replaced the woodland strawberry F. vesca in commercial production. In 2023, world production of strawberries exceeded ten million tons, led by China with 40% of the total.