Waldsteinia fragarioides (Michx.) Tratt.

Barren strawberry, Appalachian barren strawberry

Barren strawberries are North American natives, named for their apparent lack of fruit. (They do in fact fruit, but the seeds are inconspicuous and dry.) They are not strawberries at all, though they are related. The genus Waldsteinia is named for the German botanist Francis Adams, the Count of Waldstein-Wartenburg. The species, fragarioides, means strawberry-like, for the close resemblance of the foliage.

Plants: Mat-forming, 3–8″ (7.6–20 cm) tall, producing dense colonies.

Leaves: Near the base of the plant, and three-lobed, like strawberries, with rounded teeth and shallow lobes. Each leaflet is narrow at the base, widening to rounded ends.

Flowers: Yellow, on a leafless stalk, with five rounded petals, about ¼″ (8.3 mm) around, in clusters.

Fruits: Though called “barren strawberries” because they don’t bear bright and delicious fruits, they produce seed heads made up of 2-6 dry achenes (seeds).

Habitats: Upland conifer or conifer hardwood mixed forests in moist to dry, but not wet soils

Barren strawberries most closely resemble mock strawberries, since they both have yellow flowers. Here are a few strawberries and strawberry relatives:

Strawberries and similar plants.

Online References:

Older scientific or horticultural names

Waldsteinia fragarioides description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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