The fight to save Chile's white strawberry

Maybe I'm the problem but I didn't see anything in this article that communicated why the white Strawberry business should be saved. I mean I don't want the species to go extinct but I didn't get the sense that was a risk. Is it somehow better than the hybrid strawberry that came back from Europe?

&gt; Ask about the frutilla blanca anywhere else in Chile and people blink their eyes, bewildered, especially if they’re under the age of 40.<p>When I studied in Chile a decade ago, everyone knew about this. They were quite proud of being part of the origin of the modern strawberry. I never did find any white strawberries myself though.<p>Also, Frézier&#x27;s name is amusingly a homonym of the name for the strawberry plant in French (fraisier), and not only that, but etymologically comes from the word for strawberry itself (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.wikiwix.com&#x2F;cache&#x2F;index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lepoint.fr%2Factualites-sciences-sante%2Fl-espion-qui-ramena-sa-fraise%2F1055%2F0%2F268153#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&amp;tab=url" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.wikiwix.com&#x2F;cache&#x2F;index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%...</a>)

I was surprised to learn that this is different from the similar-looking Pineberry [0].<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pineberry" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pineberry</a>

I’d love to propagate these via tissue culture for local nurseries but I can’t even seem to find seeds anywhere near me. If anyone has a line on some of these I’d love to hear. I can find many similar varieties of chiloensis but not this one.

Fragaria chiloensis grows natively on the West Coast of the US and it is not white.<p>There may be a naming inaccuracy here.<p>I have about 150 square feet of the damned things. From twelve starts. They sure like to self-propagate.

My brain read this as Chile&#x27;s the restaurant and &quot;white strawberry&quot; as some kind of cocktail.<p>The actual article is far more interesting.

White strawberries are also somewhat popular in Japan — does anyone know if it&#x27;s the same variety?

I&#x27;m disappointed not to find a description of their taste. The best I&#x27;m getting is &quot;pineapple-like fragrance&quot;, which is an intriguing start. Is it sweet? Tart? Bitter? Or does it taste like garden strawberries, just looks different?

Costco has had these recently as pineberries. So maybe they are at-risk in Chile but not at-risk of being cultivated elsewhere.<p>As for the taste, like a mix of strawberry and pineapple. Solid but not worth the added cost over strawberries.