common strawberry

Common strawberry is native to eastern and central North America, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Minnesota, and south as far as Alabama. It is very common in Minnesota. It is found in open fields, meadows, and woodland openings. It grows under full to partial sun in loamy, dry to moist soil. It spreads quickly, often forming dense mats or patches that can cover large areas.

The fruit is a favorite of many animals, including birds, deer, and small mammals. It is also commonly harvested by humans for use in jams, jellies, pies, and other desserts. The plant is also used in traditional medicine for various ailments, such as diarrhea, skin disorders, and respiratory problems.

Common strawberry is an erect, 4″ to 6″ tall, perennial forb that rises from rhizomes. It is often found in colonies forming a loose ground cover. It spreads freely by producing dull red runners up to 24″ long that root at the nodes giving rise to new plants.

There are usually several basal leaves on hairy, green or dull red stalks. The leaf stalks can get up to 6″ long but are more commonly 3″ long or less. The leaves are divided into 3 leaflets.

The leaflets are thick, firm, elliptic to inversely egg-shaped, ¾″ to 2¾″ long, and up to 1½″ wide. The lateral veins branch off of the central vein at an angle of about 30°. The upper surface is dark green to bluish-green and hairless. The lower surface is pale green and silky, with long, soft, slender, somewhat appressed hairs. The margins are coarsely toothed except near the base, where they are untoothed. The terminal tooth of the leaflet is narrower (less than half as wide) and shorter than (does not protrude beyond) the two adjacent teeth.

The inflorescence is a flat-topped or round-topped, branched cluster of a few to 12 flowers at the end of a hairy stalk that is shorter than the leaves. The flowers sit at about the same height as the leaves.

The flowers are ½″ to 1″ wide. There are 5 white, ¼″ to ½″ long petals, 5 green sepals about 2 ⁄5″ long, 5 green, leaf-like bracts about the same length as the petals, 20 to 40 stamens with yellow anthers, and numerous pistils.

The fruit is an accessory fruit, consisting of a fleshy receptacle with achenes on the surface. It is roundish, ½″ to ¾″ long, with the familiar shape of the cultivated strawberry. The seed-like achenes are deeply embedded in pits on the surface of the fruit.

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Most authorities, including ITIS, GRIN, USDA PLANTS, Flora of North America, and Plants of the World Online (POWO), recognize four subspecies of common strawberry. A few sources, including World Flora Online and Steyermark’s Flora of Missouri Vol. 3 (Yatskievych, 2013), consider these synonyms and don’t recognize any subspecies.

Plant

Inflorescence

Leaves

Location: Cass County

Location: La Salle Lake SNA