Why are strawberries called strawberries?

For those curious about the etymology of this beloved little fruit, more than one explanation of the name's origin has been provided. Some say that the prefix "straw" refers to the straw often used as a mulch around the plants, intended to protect the roots, hold in moisture, and help protect the plants from mold, rot, and foraging creepy-crawlies. For instance, the Western Garden Book advises a winter mulch consisting of a "4-6 inch layer of straw or other light, weed-free, organic material."

The all-knowing Wikipedia offers this explanation of the name's origins: "The name is derived from Old English streawberige which is a compound of streaw meaning "straw" and berige meaning "berry". The reason for this is unclear. It may derive from the strawlike appearance of the runners, or from an obsolete denotation of straw, meaning "chaff", referring to the scattered appearance of the achenes [the little seed-like nodes on the outside of the berry that crunch when you eat it]."

"Interestingly, in other Germanic countries there is a tradition of collecting wild strawberries by threading them on straws. In those countries people find straw-berry to be an easy word to learn considering their association with straws. [Why you would go to trouble of threading berries onto a straw is beyond me, but perhaps it makes for easy hanging and drying if you want to preserve the fruit].

There is an alternative theory that the name derives from the Anglo-Saxon verb for "strew" (meaning to spread around)... The name might have come from the fact that the fruit and various runners appear "strewn" along the ground."

I think this last theory is the best one, since strawberries are quite a rambling plant; I've come across well-established patches of interconnected berry plants being used as a ground cover, and they really do appear to have been strewn across the ground. But I'm also using straw as a mulch at the moment, so that theory's pretty persuasive as well.