Amédée-François Frézier Amédée-François Frézier Amédée-François Frézier (1682 – October 26, 1773) was a French military engineer, mathematician, spy, and explorer who is best remembered for bringing back five specimens of "Fragaria chiloensis", the beach strawberry, from an assignment in South America, thus introducing this New World fruit to the Old. As described by G.M. Darrow, Frézier's ancient surname was derived from "fraise", the French word for strawberry. A story relates the surname is derived from the fact that Julius de Berry, a citizen of Anvers (i.e. Antwerp), was knighted by Charles the Simple in 916 for a timely gift of ripe strawberries.
Kristine French Kristine French Kristine French is an Australian plant biologist who is a Professor at the University of Wollongong, where she has directed the Janet Cosh Herbarium since 1992. She is known for researching the ecology of weeds, studying urban ecology and "endangered species and forest ecology." French gained her B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of Sydney in 1984. She earned her doctorate from Monash University in 1989. Her thesis is entitled "Fruit/bird interactions in wet sclerophyll forest in Australia: the influence of fruit characteristics and the role of birds as seed disposal agents". French is a professor at the Institute