Mock Strawberry (Duchesnea indica (Andrews) Teschem.)
Also known as Indian strawberry, false strawberry, strawberry weed; also classified as Potentilla indica.
↑Summary
A perennial that resembles strawberries, but with yellow flowers and a nearly-tasteless fruit. Native to east and south Asia, and widely introduced in North America, where it is a common weed in lawns.
↑Life Cycle
Sprouts from seed and initially establishes a single rosette of leaves. Once established, sends out stems that have new plantlets on the tips. These stems are often referred to as stolons, or more casually as runners, although they often arch higher off the ground than is typical for stems referred to with this term. If the original plant is on a sufficiently favorable site, the plantlets will sometimes even send out new shoots of their own before rooting. Sometimes this plant can exhibit a weakly-vining habit, crawling over other low-growing vegetation, although plantlets usually root.
Throughout its lifecycle, invests more energy into vegetative reproduction than flowering and fruiting. Foliage is evergreen.
Often forms colonies through vegetative reproduction alone, covering large areas of ground.
↑Uses
This plant was introduced as an ornamental plant but nowadays it is rarely or never grown intentionally, and is usually viewed as a weed.
↑Links & External Resources
• Duchesnea indica (Mock Strawberry) | Illinois Wildflowers (About This Site)
• Duchesnea indica (Mock Strawberry) | USDA PLANTS Database (About This Site)
• Duchesnea indica | NatureServe Explorer (About This Site)
• Duchesnea indica | Flora of North America (About This Site)
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