RECOVERY FROM EXTRACELLULAR FREEZING IN STRAWBERRY CROWNS

‘Earliglow’ strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) plants were frozen to 5°C to examine the distribution of ice in the crowns. Anatomical studies were also performed to characterize tissue growth in a greenhouse at 4, 8, and 15 weeks after freezing to -5°C. Ice masses observed in fresh crown tissue corresponded to the presence of extracellular tissue voids in specimens fixed for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Voids were present near the predunele and adjacent to the vascular system in crown tissue. After plants were grown in the greenhouse, cell division and enlargement were observed near the voids in crowns subjected to -5°C. By 15 weeks after freezing, a few small extracellular voids remained in the crowns.