| Musk strawberry | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Fragaria |
| Species: | F. moschata |
| Binomial name | |
| Fragaria moschata Duchesne |
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The musk strawberry (Fragaria moschata), is a species of strawberry native to Europe. Its French name hautbois strawberry is anglicised as hautboy strawberry.
Musk strawberries grow wild to a limited extent in the forests of Central Europe, north into Scandinavia, and east into Russia. It was the first strawberry of any sort with a cultivar name, which was Le Chapiron (1576).[1] By 1591, the cultivar was called Chapiton, then later Capiton. It was mentioned by Quintinye, gardener to Louis XIV, as Capron in 1672.[1]
It is used in the gourmet community for its intense aroma and superb flavour, which has been compared to a mixture of regular strawberry, raspberry and pineapple.[1] The berries are small and round. They are hardy plants that can survive in many weather conditions and are cultivated commercially on a small scale, particularly in Italy. Popular cultivated varieties include Capron and Profumata di Tortona.
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All strawberries have a base haploid count of 7 chromosomes. Fragaria moschata is hexaploid, having six pairs of these chromosomes for a total of 42 chromosomes.