Potentilla sterilis

Not to be confused with Waldsteinia fragarioides also called Barren strawberry, or Mock strawberry (Potentilla indica).
Barren Strawberry
Potentilla sterilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Potentilla
Species: P. sterilis
Binomial name
Potentilla sterilis
(L.) Garcke[1]
Synonyms[1]

P. fragariastrum Ehrh. ex Pers.

Leaves resemble those of strawberries

Potentilla sterilis, also called strawberryleaf cinquefoil[2] or barren strawberry, is a perennial herbaceous species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. It is native to Europe.

Description

The plant looks rather like wild woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca), or a cultivated strawberry, but is a smaller plant, with smaller flowers, and it doesn't form fleshy fruit. After the petals have fallen from a flower no obvious fruit forms. The petals are usually well separated from one another, not overlapping as in Fragaria vesca. Another distinguishing feature, illustrated in the photograph at left, is that the terminal tooth of the leaflets is usually shorter than the adjacent teeth and the leaves are matt and darker green.[3][4]

References

  1. 1 2 Mabberley, D. J. (2002), "Potentilla and Fragaria (Rosaceae) reunited" (PDF), Telopea, 9: 793–801
  2. "Potentilla sterilis". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  3. Stace, C.A. (2010). New flora of the British isles (Third ed.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. p. 257. ISBN 9780521707725.
  4. http://www.bsbi.org.uk/Potentilla_sterilis_Crib.pdf
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