Fragaria virginiana (Wild Strawberry)



USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. Vol. 2: 260.

WILD SEED PROJECT IS OFFERING SEEDS, SO THIS SPECIES IS NOT A PRIORITY.

Where Commonly Found: Meadow, fields, shores of rivers or lakes.CT, ME, MA ,NH, NY, RI, VT.
How to Identify:
(For unfamiliar words: Wikipedia Glossary of Botanical Terms).
Go Botany Key to Fragaria virginiana.
Missouri Botanical Garden description of Fragaria virginiana.  Click on more images.

Flower Color:  White 
Flower Type:  Radial, 5-petalled small flowers1″ – 1-1/2″ wide, solitary or forming flat umbel-like clusters of 2-12 flowers each, with numerous yellow-anthered center stamens, (followed by tasty wild strawberries)
Flower Time:  April to May.
Leaf Arrangement:  Basal,
ground hugging, fibrous roots, 
Leaf Type:  Compound, 3 leaflets, 
1″- 5″ long, oval and coarsely toothed with hairy leaf petioles up to 6″ long.
Height:  3″-9″
Seed Collection:  Pick ripe strawberries, will be about 1/2″ long with seeds embedded in the pitted surface.  Crush them, add a cup of water, process in blender for 5-10 seconds, pour into bowl and let it settle, pour off floating pulp and bad seeds, save seeds that have sunk, rinse clean, spread to dry, store in sealed container in refrigerator. (Seed Collection notes from Everwilde Farms website.)

Attracts:  Bees, Butterflies, Birds
Use:  Ground Cover for Pollinator Garden
Light:  Full Sun to Part Sun
Hardiness Zone:  4 to 9   USDA Zone Map
Soils:  Dry to Moist, Sandy Loam
Notes:  Finding a wild strawberry is such a treat and the plant will spread through runners throughout your pollinator garden and serve as a very suitable ground cover.
Native to all of the continental US:   Biota of North America Program (BONAP) – North American Plant Atlas (NAPA).

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