Fragaria iturupensis, the Iturup Strawberry, is a species of strawberry

Strawberry

Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...

, endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 to Iturup

Iturup

Iturup is the largest island of the South Kuril Islands. It is the northernmost island in the southern Kuril/Chishima islands, and though it is presently controlled by Russia, Japan also claims this island...

 in the Kuril Islands

Kuril Islands

The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...

. It is noted to have relatively large berries for a wild species, similar in appearance to those of Fragaria virginiana.

Polyploidy

All strawberries have a base haploid count of 7 chromosomes. Fragaria iturupensis was initially reported as octoploid

Polyploidy

Polyploid is a term used to describe cells and organisms containing more than two paired sets of chromosomes. Most eukaryotic species are diploid, meaning they have two sets of chromosomes — one set inherited from each parent. However polyploidy is found in some organisms and is especially common...

(with 8 sets of chromosomes, 56 in total), but subsequent testing found decaploids (with ten sets of chromosomes, a total of 70). It is unclear whether the earlier report was an error, or whether two forms exist.

External links

• Hummer, K.E., Sabitov, A., & Davis, T. 2005. Iturup And Sakhalin Island Strawberries. Hortscience 40(4): 1127. Abstract.