Barren Strawberry

(Waldsteinia fragarioides)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides  [Michx.] Tratt.)

Identification: Plant strawberry-like in form but with yellow flowers. Flowers with 5 broad petals and numerous stamens. Sepals narrow and pointed, generally shorter than the sepals. Stem absent, plant consisting of flower stems and leaf petioles arising from a common base. Runners absent. Leaf divided into 3 leaflets. Leaflets broad with the upper half coarsely dentate. Plant 3 to 8 inches in height.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to New England in the east, southward to Pennsylvania, and Indiana, and in the mountains to North Carolina, Arkansas, and Georgia.

Habitat: Barren Strawberry is found in woods and clearings.

Flowering period: April to June.

Similar Species: Barren Strawberry is most similar to Indian Strawberry. The bracts of Indian Strawberry are broad and 3-toothed, exceeding both the petals and sepals in length. Runners are present and the leaflets are narrower and not as coarsely toothed.

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