Why Settlers Thought the Strawberry Tree Was Native to Oregon

Have you heard of a strawberry tree? I hadn’t, until recently.

The fruits, with their rough outer spiky skin, resemble the lychee nut more than their namesake, though they don’t have a hard seed inside.

Actual Oregon strawberries have more appeal as a fruit, but connoisseurs of strawberry tree fruits turn them into syrups and jams. They’re an ingredient in the Portuguese honey liqueur Dom Cristina (also known as Brandymel). Sardinians use the fruit to make grappa.

Strawberry trees are a favorite of Oregon gardeners and landscapers because the tree is evergreen and withstands both rainy and dry weather.

The tree is native to the Mediterranean. Romans used wood from the strawberry tree to make funeral pyres, as was recorded in Virgil’s “Aeneid” for the funeral of Pallas. The coat of arms for the city of Madrid includes the strawberry tree.

When white settlers first landed here, they found a tree that vaguely resembled the strawberry tree and just assumed it was the same (at least initially). The climate does support authentic strawberry trees as well.