Brigitte Wachsmuth
Annotated List of Alpine, Wild, and Musk Strawberry Varieties Currently in Cultivation

updated March 2014


 

I. Alpine Strawberries

Some non-everbearing varieties are included; these are no alpines in a strict sense.

Runnerless, red-fruited, seed propagated

Fragaria vesca 'Rügen' ('Ruegen') Emil Spangenberg, Germany 1920, syn 'Schöne von Puttbus', 'Rujana', 'Rjugen', 'Rugia';
Fragaria vesca 'Baron Solemacher', F.C. Heinemann, Germany 1935

There is a 'Freiherr von Solemacher' (red and white) mentioned by Schaal before 1934. Schaal seems to mix up with an old apple variety of this name. He believes 'Freiherr von Solemacher' to be superior in taste to 'Rügen', however interestingly enough he only gives illustrations of older varieties.
Fragaria vesca 'Verbesserte Rügen', Späth, Germany, 1939, syn 'Ruegen Improved', 'Rügen Selecta', 'Selekta'
Fragaria vesca 'Alexandria', George W. Park Seed Co, USA, 1964
syn 'Baron Solemacher Improved'. The spelling 'Alexandra' is invalid for another reason: there is a hybrid strawberry under this name by Nicaise, France, 1872
Fragaria vesca 'Reine des Vallées', syn 'Regina delle Valli'
According to Les Jardins de France, 1957, this is a synonym of 'Baron Solemacher', the name being in use after WW II. 'Regina' alone is ambiguous because there is a hybrid strawberry bearing this name. The Estonian 'Reini Valss' and the Russian 'Reinskii Vals' meaning "Rhine Waltz" are most likely misunderstandings.
Fragaria vesca 'Déesse des Vallées', syn 'Dea delle Valli', Marionnet, France, improved 'Reine de Vallées' no seed available
Fragaria vesca 'Mignonette', sold by several international seed companies, seed originating in France
Fragaria vesca 'Bowlenzauber', Sperling, Germany
Fragaria vesca 'Ali Baba', Hem, Netherlands
Fragaria vesca 'Red Wonder', Sahin, Netherlands
Fragaria vesca 'Dushistoe Lukoshko' i.e. "Fragrant Basket", Aelita, Russia
Fragaria vesca 'Krasnaja Shapochka' i.e. "Little Red Riding Hood", not identical to 'Rödluvan', Aelita, Russia
Fragaria vesca 'Waldsteinchen', 2008, Manfred Hans, Germany; originating in Bohemia, a small-fruited everbearing form similar to the old Gaillon
Fragaria vesca 'Metsa Muinasjutt', Sedek, Estonia/Russia, the name means "Fairytale Forest"
Fragaria vesca 'Fraisier des 4 saisons Supreme', Vilmorin, France
In Poland Vilmorin sells his alpine strawberry seed under the name 'Rugia' ('Rügen')
Fragaria vesca 'Mečta' (syn 'Unistus', 'Mechta'), i.e."Dream", by Aelita, Russia
Fragaria vesca 'Zolushka', Gavrish, Russia; i.e. "Cinderella"
Fragaria vesca 'Elba', Italy, commercially grown but said to be not as productive as 'Regina delle Valli'
Fragaria vesca 'Alpine', Italy, commercially grown but said to be not as productive as 'Regina delle Valli'

Runners, red-fruited, non-everbearing types are marked

The everbearing habit may differ from "elongated fruiting period" and "fruiting again from September onwards" to "everbearing from June to frost".

Fragaria vesca 'Brussels' (tentative name) Hans de Jongh, Netherlands, few runners, more bushy than other runnered varieties, high fruit yield per plant
Fragaria vesca 'Forstina', long conical fruit, kept at C.R.A., Italy
Fragaria vesca 'Gartenfreude', Ahornblatt, Germany, large-fruited form, sometimes very large monstrous fruit of the Fressant type
Fragaria vesca 'Linné', Åke Truedsson, Sweden; selection from 'Linnés Norrlandssmultron'
Fragaria vesca 'Linnés Norrlandsmultron' (kept as 'Norrland' at NCGR Corvallis, Oregon) very old historically important variety commercially grown in Sweden until 1970
Fragaria vesca 'Minja', Finland 1986, a cross between the wild strawberry and the alpine variety 'Rügen'
Fragaria vesca 'New Giant', a Corvallis selection from Californian 'Rügen' seed (if the seed parent was open-pollinated runners are possible, they are hereditary dominant; spontaneous reverting has been reported too though very rarely).
Fragaria vesca 'Nero del Regina', introduced by Deaflora, 2012, dark red fruit, dark achenes
Fragaria vesca 'Quarantaine de Prin', France, large-fruited heritage variety, probably identical to the variety 'Erigée de Poitou' which was still offered around 1960 (illustrated in Darrow, The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology, 1966)
Fragaria vesca 'Rödluvan', Åke Truedsson, Sweden; i.e. "Little Red Riding Hood", cross of the white wild and an Italian alpine strawberry
Fragaria vesca 'Ronja', Deaflora, Germany, non-everbearing, improved form of the wild strawberry
Fragaria vesca 'Rosalie', Deaflora 2012, pink fruited, probably F. vesca 'Illa Martin' x 'Rügen'
Fragaria vesca 'Rosa Perle', introduced by Deaflora 2011, non-everbearing, pink-fruited, in particular when grown in dappled shade; found by B. Wachsmuth in her grandparents' garden around 1960, but has grown there much longer
Fragaria vesca 'Småland', Sweden

Italian varieties, with and without runners
Fragaria vesca 'Fragolina di Ribera' (Sicily, plants reportedly brought to Ribera by WW I soldiers returning from Northern Italy, fruiting from March to June). Italian varieties are almost ever named after the region where they are cultivated. The alpines Fragolina di Nemi (Lazio) and Fragolina di Marsala (Sicily), and the wild strawberries Fragolina di Ribera, Sciacca, Maletto, "Fior di Noto" (all Sicily) and Fragolina di San Mauro e Rivodora (Piemonte, also called "Fragolina nera") are more widely known. "D'Ogni Mese" and "Fragola Quattro Stagioni" just mean alpine strawberry, "Fragola di Bosco" is the Italian name for the common woodland strawberry. 'Regina delle Valli' is the most frequently cultivated alpine. There are two other named varieties 'Ilaria' (Northern Italy) and 'Zimbaro' (Southern Italy)

Runnerless, yellow/white-fruited

Fragaria vesca 'Weisse Solemacher', F. C. Heinemann, Germany, before 1939
Fragaria vesca 'Golden Alpine' (Sortomme, USA)
Fragaria vesca 'Pineapple Crush', USA, before 1978
Fragaria vesca 'Yellow Delight'
Fragaria vesca 'Yellow Wonder', syn 'Kollane ime', USA, Corvallis, 1987 (distributed by Sahin)
Fragaria vesca 'White Soul', misspelling/abbreviation of 'White Solemacher'?
Fragaria vesca 'Ivory', Paradise Gardens, USA
Fragaria vesca 'Frost King', Merkel Nurseries, USA, globular shaped fruit
Fragaria vesca 'Holiday', Gavrish, Russia
Fragaria vesca 'Golden Piece', syn 'Zolotinka', Poisk, Russia
Fragaria vesca 'White Delight' syn 'Alpine Yellow', Jelitto; there are runnered plants distributed under this name; if true to name this should be an everbearing, runnerless alpine, originating from Max Schleipfer in Bavaria (personal comment by Georg Uebelhart from Jelitto Seeds)

Runners, y/w-fruited, including non-everbearing types

Fragaria vesca 'Snow King', USA, discovered 1918 in Allegan County, USA, introduced 1922 by Burgess Seed & Plant Co, USA, non-everbearing
Fragaria vesca 'White Alpine', Raintree Nursery, USA
Fragaria vesca 'Fructu Albo', 'Leucocarpa', 'Albicarpa', 'Blanche des Bois', these are all synonyms of forma alba, non-everbearing
Fragaria vesca 'Snövit', (Åke Truedsson, Sweden), i.e. "Snow White", seed selection from wild material collected in Sweden; the Russian seed strain 'Belosnežka' (in Estonian: 'Lumivalgeke') with the same word meaning may be a different type though
Fragaria vesca 'Blanc Amélioré', Reads Nursery, UK, syn 'Improved White' ; it is doubtful if the clone in circulation today is identical to the historical variety from around 1900 (Bunyard/Owen, The Fruit Garden, 1904) because of its non-everbearing habit; nevertheless a good variety with rather large, sometimes monstruous fruit of the Fressant type.
Fragaria vesca 'Alpine Jaune', Vreeken, Netherlands
Fragaria vesca 'Lotta', Sweden
Fragaria vesca 'Illa Martin', Germany, found by the dendrologist Illa Martin; sold as an ornamental, most plants in circulation are not true to name. The original cultivar is everbearing with white elongated fruit and brownish-yellow achenes.

II. Ornamental varieties of F. vesca, runnered if not marked otherwise

Fragaria vesca 'Cresta', this is the valid name for a runnered alpine with variegated leaves ('Variegata' is ambiguous, many plants under this name are in fact F. chiloensis or F. x ananassa); maybe not in cultivation anymore. Variegated common F. vesca are sometimes found in the wild.
Fragaria vesca 'Golden Alexandria', Seedlynx, UK, yellow-leaved runnerless form
Fragaria vesca 'Golden Surprise', Highdown Nurseries, UK, yellow-leaved runnerless form, probably identical to 'Golden Alexandria'
Fragaria vesca 'Muricata', Plymouth strawberry, fruit with tiny leaves replacing the seeds Fragaria vesca 'Multiplex', double-flowered, syn 'A fleurs doubles'
Fragaria vesca 'Monophylla', Versailles strawberry, leaf form different, virescent

Note:
The main groups of Fragaria vesca in cultivation (not regarding ornamental varieties) are
- Red and white-fruited runnerless everbearing seed strains (including the ornamental 'Golden Alexandria')
- Red and white-fruited cultivars propagated by runners

The red and white seed strains come rather true from seed, differences other than color or runnering habit may be due to selection but are not stable. My suggestion is

- to give the runnerless forms a group name and characterize their variety names as names of seed strains.

It is quite remarkable that this argument is not new: As early as 1855 Louis Vilmorin rejects Massé's naming of 'Duchesse de Bergues' proposing he should compare the 2nd generation seedlings of this variety to the common "Fraise des Alpes sans filets a fruits blancs" and only if the differences are stable the naming would be accepted (Journal d'horticulture pratique de la Belgique).

- to confine the validity of cultivar names to vegetatively propagated runnered clones.
- names containing the word "Alpine" should be abandoned: for example 'White Alpine' or 'Alpine Jaune' are descriptions only. Likewise 'Quatre saisons' which is just another French name for the alpine strawberry is no valid cultivar name.
- the differentiation in white coloured and yellow/golden coloured fruit is to be neglected because it is based on individual impression and ripeness of the fruit. There may be slight differences in fruit colour but these can hardly be described exactly.

III. Musk Strawberries

Fragaria moschata '1864', Vreeken, Netherlands, small-fruited; it is doubtful if this is a true F. moschata
Fragaria moschata 'Askungen', Åke Truedsson, (syn. Oke; "Oke" is pronounced like "Åke", Truedssons first name) i.e. "Cinderella", selection from wild material growing in Sweden, hermaphroditic
Fragaria moschata 'Bauwens' (Pillnitz, Germany) female, very dark red, almost black fruit of superior taste
Fragaria moschata 'Capron royal', hermaphroditic, conical fruit, sometimes remontant; there seem to be different clones under this name in cultivation today. Probably not identical to the variety from about 1800 bearing this name. It is more likely to be the variety 'Belle Bordelaise' which was still offered by the French nursery Vilmorin before WW II.
Fragaria moschata 'Capron (commun)' the common musk strawberry; sometimes confused with 'Capron royal'
Fragaria moschata 'Capron (blanc) framboisé', France, similar to the common musk, but probably not the variety which has been described under this name in the French literature around 1800
Fragaria moschata 'Cotta', Pillnitz, Germany, male; a female clone bearing this name is kept in Pillnitz
Fragaria moschata 'Eva Liebermeister' found 2010 in an old garden in Karlsruhe, Germany; an old garden variety with superior taste
Fragaria moschata 'Heilien', Vreeken, Netherlands, "extra exuberant growth and the largest fruits" (Vreeken)
Fragaria moschata 'Kamptal', Arche Noah, Austria, male and female, selections from the wild
Fragaria moschata Fragaria moschata 'Marie Charlotte', Manfred Hans, Germany
Fragaria moschata 'Parfum royal', Lubera, Switzerland, identical to 'Capron royal'
Fragaria moschata 'Profumata di Tortona'; Italy, there are male and female clones, the cultivars under this name in circulation north of the Alps and in the US are female
Fragaria moschata 'Rosea' (syn 'Rozeya' or 'Rozea') Gavrish, Russia, seed strain
Fragaria moschata 'Rote Laterne', found by Herwig Teppner, Austria, in the former red light district of Graz, introduced 2013 by Deaflora
Fragaria moschata 'Schöne Wienerin', G. Goeschke, Germany 1889, rediscovered by Klaus Olbricht in Dresden in the front yard of an old town house.
Fragaria moschata 'Siegerland', Pedro Gerstberger, an old garden cultivar from Mudersbach, Germany; female

There is some evidence that several of these cultivars are identical, further investigation is necessary.

Note:
Fragaria 'Mme Spanske J' (Ferme de Ste Marthe, France) is no musk strawberry at all but the fine German cultivar F. x ananassa 'Mieze Schindler'. Like true F. moschata this variety needs a pollinator. 'Mieze Schindler' is marketed as "Strasberry" by the Netherlandish strawberry grower Hans de Jongh.

IV. Identification of cultivars

Reliable illustrations of old varieties are quite rare, therefore marked if present.
Identification is especially difficult in the case of runnered alpine and moschata varieties grown in the 2nd half of the 20th century. More references for this period would be valuable and helpful.

References:
- Chapron, Roland, Catalogue de Fraisiers, Caen, Automne 1951 - Printemps 1952 (black and white illustrations of alpine varieties)
- Darrow, George M. The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology. - New York: 1966
- Duhamel du Monceau, Henri Louis. Traité des Arbres Fruitiers, Nouvelle éd. / augmentée par A. Poiteau et P. J. F. Turpin, Paris ; Strasbourg : Levrault, 1835 (splendid plates of strawberries grown in the first half of the 18th century)
- Gloede, Ferdinand. Culture spéciale de fraisier. Catalogue descriptif de nouvelles variétés et autres. Publié par l'Imprimerie Horticole de E. Donnaud à Paris: 1862
- Gloede, Ferdinand. Les bonnes fraises - 2. ed. - Paris : Librairie Centre d'Agriculture et de jardinage, [1865]
- Goeschke, Franz. Das Buch der Erdbeeren: Praktische Anleitung zu ihrer Kultur im freien Lande wie auch zum Treiben in Kästen und Häusern nebst Beschreibung der Arten und Varietäten - Zweite, neubearb. Aufl. Berlin: Paul Parey, 1888 (illustrations in text)
- Junge, E., Unser Beerenobst in Feld und Garten. - 3. Aufl. - Wiesbaden : Bechtold, [1927] (plate)
- Lambertye, Leonce de. Le Fraisier, sa Botanique, sa Histoire, sa Culture. - Paris: 1864
- Millet, Armand. Les Fraisiers. - Paris, 1897 (illustrations in text)
- Nietner, Theodor Eduard. Das Ganze der Erdbeerzucht. - Berlin : Nauck, 1842
- Regel, Eduard. Erdbeeren. - Gartenflora: Monatsschrift fur deutsche, russische und schweizerische Garten- und Blumenkunde, Band 17, Erlangen, 1868 - 71-72, plate 572
- Schaal, Gustav. Stein-, Beeren- und Schalenobst. - Stuttgart: Eckstein & Stähle, [ca 1934] (plate)
- Seeck, C., Kultur der Monatserdbeeren aus Samen. - Gartenwelt XVII/1, 1902/03: p. 5
- Spangenberg, E. Praktische Erdbeerkultur - Anleitung zur Anlage und Pflege von Erdbeerpflanzungen sowie Ernte, Verpackung, Versand und Verwertung der Früchte. - Trowitzsch & Sohn GmbH 1923
- Staudt, G. Taxonomic studies in the genus Fragaria. Typification of Fragaria species known at the time of Linnaeus. - Canad. J. Bot.40, 1962: 869-886
- Staudt, Günter. Les dessins d'Antoine Nicolas Duchesne pour son Histoire naturelle des fraisiers. - Muséum Nat. d'histoire Naturelle, Paris: 2003. (excellent reproductions of Duchesne's original drawings)
- Thiele, K. P., Knauth, Andreas. Die Erdbeere: Sorten, Kultur, Beschreibung und Verwertung. - Hannover : Landbuch, 1953 (drawings of alpine varieties)
- Wachsmuth, Brigitte. Von Monats-, Wald- und Moschuserdbeeren. - Gartenpraxis 5/2009, 20-28
- Wachsmuth, Brigitte. Kleine Erdbeeren. - ARCHE NOAH Magazin, Schiltern 4/2010: 10-15
- Wachsmuth, Brigitte. Wild, alpine and musk strawberries. The Plantsman, vol. 9, Part 4, December 2010: 245-249
- Zürn, Ernst S. Die Erdbeere. - Berlin: Siegismund, [1900] (illustrations in text)