 Strawberries are not true berries.The fleshy and edible part of the fruit is a receptacle, and the parts that are sometimes mistakenly called "seeds" are achenes.Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the word is possibly derived from "strewn berry" in reference to the runners that "strew" or "stray away" from the base of the plants.