Featured Image Credit: DR NEIL OVERY/Getty/Aleksandr Zubkov/Getty
Topics: Food and Drink, Science
Callum Jones
Topics: Food and Drink, Science
While tucking into a delicious strawberry you may have noticed some little white dots lingering on the outside.
To be honest, with how tasty the fruit is, the appearance is an after thought to a lot of people.
However, many strawberry fans have recently come to the realization of what the white dots on the outside actually are, causing many to be left mind-blown.
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Strawberries are full of surprises, given the fact they're not even classed as berries.
And perhaps an even bigger shock to a lot of people is that the white dots found in strawberries are not seeds.
In fact, the dots scattered across strawberries are known as achenes, which are actually the plant's fruit.
The term 'achene' refers to the simple dry fruit produced by a variety of different flowering species, including buckwheat and even cannabis.
Achenes contain a single seed, but that doesn't mean the strawberry plant uses it to reproduce.
Strawberries are rather different as they send out 'runners' when they begin to grow into the fruit we all know and love.
These 'runners' are essentially small strawberry clones that will take to the root and begin growing whey they reach the ground.
Scientists reckon this is the most efficient way for the plant to grow and spread, similar to what happens in species like spider plants and peppermint.
With the strawberry not being the fruit of the plant or even a berry, many have been left stumped as to what they actually are.
Well, strawberries are actually aggregate fruits, which consist of a number of smaller fruits grouped together.
The recent talk has not been the first time many have been left bewildered regarding strawberries.
In 2016, Chris Gunter, an associate professor of horticultural science at NC State cleared up any confusion as to why the seeds (or achenes as we now know them) are on the outside.
While we don't know for sure which evolutionary forces caused strawberries to develop the way they did, Gunter has provided some indications.
"There are a few fundamental reasons why plants have evolved different kinds of fruits. One reason is to attract something that spreads seeds," he said.
"A second evolutionary approach is for plants to find ways for their fruit to disperse on their own. For example, they may fly in the wind, like a dandelion, or be moved by the water, like a coconut."