The strawberry plant grows from a dense "crown" located at the base of the soil.
Essentially, strawberry growth centers around this crown. Here's a breakdown of how it works:
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The Crown: This is the heart of the strawberry plant. It's a compact stem structure from which everything else emerges.
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Leaves, Fruit, and Runners: These all sprout directly from the crown.
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Roots: The root system also develops from the crown, anchoring the plant and absorbing nutrients.
Strawberries are commonly planted as dormant, bare-root crowns. This means they're essentially just the crown and a small root system with a few leaves. Once planted, the roots establish themselves, and the plant begins to send out new leaves, flowers (which become fruit), and runners. Runners are horizontal stems that grow along the ground, developing new "daughter" plants at their nodes. This is how strawberries propagate and spread.