I think it's really interesting how you're saying cannabis takes on the traits of other plants and that's how we're getting all these varieties.
In fact, scientists are finding more and more how DNA is actually adaptive (not totally unchanging during a lifetime like we used to think), and will change with environmental influences, way down to the thoughts we think regularly (since everyone is already freaked out about this thread, might as well chuck that into the game too
)
From the very little I know however, I wouldn't think this transfer occurs via pollination, but rather somewhere on the microbiological level.
Take your strawberry example. If that is happening in intact soil, there's a strong likelihood the strawberries have mycorrhizal fungi cooperatiing with them. And it is known that mycorrhizal fungi can expand to cover wide areas, docking onto many plants in its field of action. The largest know living being today is a mycorrhizal fungus beinf studied by Paul Stamets in Washington State - something like 20miles across and a few feet deep in the soil, connecting the whole forest together.
It is known that trees for example will feed their cohorts via the mycorrhizal network - especially when they're "dying" they transfer their life energy to other plants as they do...
Furthermore, as DNA analyses become more and more widespread, it is being found how microbes can exchange DNA information to adapt to circumstances. And we are finding how fungi carry the DNA of bacteria (that may be essential helpers for the fungus' nutrient mining activity) within them - up to 40% of it!! We don't know what they do with that yet but doesn't that open up alllll sorts of wonderful possibilities!
Also, there is this theory, that has been studied far enough to show there is truth to it, but not enough for us to be able to say with absolute certainty. Namely that plants also gather nutrients by way of direct transfer, i.e., they absorb and make use of cell building blocks like complex molecules (enzymes, hormones,..) mitochondria or chloroplasts directly - perhaps modifying the makeup or DNA slightly to match their purpose? There are definitely processes going on in the cell that would make that plausible.
Oh and then there's the whole field of allelopathy too, where we would probably find transfers taking place in some cases too!
So my working theory (again, just based on what I know, connected by a sprinkling of intuition) would be that there is an exchange taking place in there somewhere on that level of microbial activity and cooperation, that allows the cannabis to take over traits, such as aromas, from completely different species.
Exciting!
