Strawberries

Fragaria vesca is the wild strawberry that Bilbo Baggins found growing in the wild lands as he descended from the Misty Mountains. This wild variety is much smaller than the more familiar hybrid strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) seen in modern times, and so it is hardly surprising that the three Bilbo managed to find did little to satisfy his hunger.

The word 'strawberry' comes from Anglo-Saxon streawberige, but the origins of that word, and especially the association of the berry with 'straw', are mysterious. Some sources suggest that the seed-like patterns covering their surfaces are vaguely straw-like. Others suggest that the name is cognate with 'strew' or 'stray', because strawberry plants grow in tangles across the ground, or that their runners form a pattern like straw spread on the ground. Ultimately, the true origin of the name remains enigmatic.