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Fragaria vesca

Fragaria vesca

8.7
A small wild plant that makes sweet red berries
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : fresa silvestre
  • Gardeners often cultivate Fragaria vesca for its small but sweet berries.

Examples

  • The fruit of Fragaria vesca is prized for its intense flavor and aroma.

  • Botanists have studied the wild distribution of Fragaria vesca across different European habitats.

  • The Fragaria vesca is often found in shady areas.

  • I love picking Fragaria vesca during summer.

  • Gardeners often cultivate Fragaria vesca for its small but sweet berries.

  • The fruit of Fragaria vesca is prized for its intense flavor and aroma.

  • I love picking Fragaria vesca during summer.

Synonyms

wild strawberry
vsFragaria vesca
  • UK
1 1.8

A small sweet red fruit that grows wild on a low plant

includes a wider native range beyond Europe to Asia and North America
wood strawberry
vsFragaria vesca
  • UK
5.1

A small wild plant that makes soft sweet red fruit often found in woods

is used as the formal scientific name in botany

Surface Forms

Morphology

Fragaria + vesca

The genus name 'Fragaria' clearly signals 'strawberry', so a learner who knows that word can infer this is a type of strawberry. However 'vesca' is a Latin species epithet not transparently meaningful to a B1 learner (it encodes the specific ‘woodland/wild’ species), so the exact botanical sense is not fully predictable without prior exposure or botanical/Latin knowledge.

Etymology

The Latin name Fragaria vesca comes from two old words: Fragaria meaning 'strawberry' and vesca meaning 'edible' or 'fit to eat'. So the name simply labels the small wild strawberry you find in the woods and explains why we use it for the woodland strawberry today.