From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
A name applied in common usage to various small fruits, although botanical definitions of berries differ from this popular conception. (To a botanist, a berry is any fruit with seeds scattered through pulp. This would include, for example, cranberries and grapes and also cucumbers and pears, but not strawberries and blackberries.) Since berries of all types are found the world over, it's assumed that they first grew wild and were cultivated by Europeans and Asians. When the first pilgrims came to the New World, they found Native Americans enjoying cranberries, blueberries and strawberries. Strawberries, as we know them today, were cultivated from a cross between a Chilean strawberry and wild berries native to West Virginia. The Native Americans also taught the settlers to dry blueberries to add to their winter soups and stews. Along with blueberries, cranberries are one of the truly native North American fruits.
