Flora Danica Tab. MCCCLXXXIX, Wild Strawberry

Georg Christian Oeder, the Royal Professor of Botany for the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and a preeminent botanical illustrator in his day, was commissioned by the Danish royal family in 1753 the monumental task of illustrating all of Denmark’s native plants. This piece, the 1,389th inscripted metal tablet in his vast series, illustrates the wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca, both in bloom and when fruiting.

Wild strawberries’ leaves and fruits were integral in early medicine in Europe, and was widely popular as a garden berry until later genetic crossings led to what we now know as the garden strawberry. Fragia vesca blooms from April to July, displaying delicate white flowers as seen in Oeder’s depiction, and bearing ripe fruit in late summer, permitting the plant has enough sunlight. It is an enduring, versatile species that can be found in open fields with dry soils, as well as wooded areas with rich soil.

While not grown and sold pervasively anymore, the berries are considered a true delicacy, and have remained largely popular in France as a component of fine cuisine. According to English writer and naturalist Izaak Walton, it is “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless He never did.”