Hi Pete, I'm back and trying to catch up, as usual! :-) A few quibbles as usual (it beats working for a living...) remember that the "flower" of a strawberry, like that of a daisy, is actually more like an inflorescence, a flowering branch or stem. There is a diagram at http://www.backyardnature.net/fl_straw.htm It shows (very diagrammatically!) how the individual pistils (effectively female flowers) grow on what amounts to a central stalk. Then it illustrates the physical structure with a bit of dissection. Now, each pistil in its embtyonic form is in essence a branch itself. Either a spot of damage or hormonal disturbance to it, or to meristematic (basically embryonic) tissue  on the stem, can change the canonical achene development, diverting it into  what amounts to bud growth. Here is the gotcha. That bud growth is NOT like the plant growing in reverse, but like starting any other bud of the same type. The patterns of  hormones (auxins) regroup to start what amounts to a new  strawberry-flower bud from scratch. In programming terms the procedure is recursive, not inversive, if that helps.  :-)

Jon, I agree with all that - I said already that your facts are spot on. But if you look at the picture you'll see that the growth on the side of the "daddy" strawberry seems to be a "baby" strawberry with a calyx attached. This is what I'm objecting to: the idea that the side growth starts with a receptacle and then sprouts a calyx, because this is not how the plant grows. If there was a flower stalk, then a calyx, then a receptacle, all well and good.

It's not clear from the photo which way the calyx is "facing". I'd like to see inside the bundle of sepals at the front of the picture, but to me it looks like the proximal end i.e. where the stalk should go.

Pete, "... if you look at the picture you'll see that the growth on the side of the "daddy" strawberry seems to be a "baby" strawberry with a calyx attached."

Agreed, with the reservation that as we cannot see inside it, we don't know that it contains more than a terminal bud.

You say: " It's not clear from the photo which way the calyx is "facing". ... but to me it looks like the proximal end i.e. where the stalk should go."

Disagreed. To me it seems to have the same orientation as the "parent" calyx, with its stalk originating proximally.

Yu say: "This is what I'm objecting to: the idea that the side growth starts with a receptacle and then sprouts a calyx, because this is not how the plant grows. If there was a flower stalk, then a calyx, then a receptacle, all well and good."

Agreed, if correct; it is just that the "well and good" version is what it looks like to me. Sorry!  :-)