This strawberry is native to North America. Often called the wild strawberry, its preferred common name is
Virginia strawberry, since there is another common wild strawberry called the woodland strawberry.
Identification: Virginia strawberries remain close to the ground,
spreading via their root systems. Leaf stalks up to 6″ (15 cm) long bear groups of three leaves.
Each leaf is oval in shape, with a serrated edge, about ¾-1½″ (1.9-3.8 cm) long. Flowers are white
with a yellow center, about ½″ (1.3 cm) in diameter, with five petals. Strawberries are about
½″ (1.3 cm) in diameter.
Common strawberries are similar to wild strawberries, and look
a little like distantly related mock strawberries and barren strawberries. If the flowers are light pink or hot pink,
you probably have a cultivated variety.
5/20/2023 · Knight’s Pond Preserve, Cumberland, Maine
6/26/2012 · By Jacquelyn Boyt
5/4/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 20 cm)
Plants are low-growing, typically 3-6″ (7.6-15 cm) tall.
Flowers
Flowers are yellow, with five petals, about ½-¾″ (1.3-1.9 cm) in diameter. They flower from April to August.
Deep pink, about ¼-¾″ (8.3-19 mm) in diameter, with five petals.
Flowers are white, about ½″ (1.5 cm) across.
Leaves
Leaves are in groups of three, dark green, heavily veined beneath, with rounded teeth. They are oval to elliptic, ¾-3″ (1.9-7.6 cm) × ¼-1½″ (8.5-38 mm), and hairy.
Dark green, in groups of three, glossy.
Leaves occur in groups of three; each leaflet is ½-2½″ (1.5-6.3 cm) long.
Fruit
Red berries are ¼-½″ (6.3-12 mm) in diameter, more spherical than strawberry-like in shape. The seedlike achenes on the berry are prominently raised, making the fruit resemble a tiny land mine.
White flowers with yellow centers, about ½″ (1.3 cm) around. Flowers remain at the level of the leaves.
Yellow, on a leafless stalk, with five petals, ¼-¾″ (8.4-19 mm) around, blooms April-May.
Leaves
Leaf stalks up to 6″ (15 cm) long bear groups of three leaves. Each leaf is oval in shape, with a serrated edge, about ¾-1½″ (1.9-3.8 cm) long.
Near the base of the plant, three-lobed, with rounded teeth and shallow lobes. Each leaflet is narrow at the base, widening to rounded ends.
Fruit
Berries are red, about ½″ (1.3 cm) in diameter. Seeds are embedded in the berry. Sepals point outward.
Dry, inconspicuous seeds.
Range/ Zones
Habitats
Fields, prairies, woodland edges
Pine forests, clearings
Type
Wild
Wild
Edibility: Every strawberry has exactly the same amount of
“strawberry essence,” whether it is a quarter inch around like these wild berries, or it is one of those
bulbous giant cultivated berries. So if you want to experience true strawberry perfection, try these little
wild berries. They’re unbelievable!