Waldsteinia fragarioides
| Appalachian barren strawberry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Meticulous 1918 botanical plate showing the native plant's narrow, widely separated yellow petals and obovate leaflets with shallowly scalloped margins. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Embryophytes |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Genus: | Waldsteinia |
| Species: | W. fragarioides |
| Binomial name | |
| Waldsteinia fragarioides | |
Waldsteinia fragarioides (syn. Geum fragarioides, and Dalibarda fragarioides Michx.)[2] also called Appalachian barren strawberry,[3] or just barren strawberry, is a low, spreading perennial plant native to eastern North America. It produces yellow flowers that appear in early spring and is frequently used as an evergreen underplanting in perennial gardens.
Similar in appearance to other low plants of the rose family such as Fragaria (strawberries) or Potentilla indica (Indian strawberry), and is frequently confused with Waldsteinia ternata (Siberian barren strawberry), but it lacks runners and has more rounded leaves.[4]
Taxonomy and identification
Waldsteinia fragarioides is frequently misidentified, confused with, mislabeled, and sold as the closely related Eurasian species Waldsteinia ternata (Siberian barren strawberry). In the United States commercial nursery trade, W. ternata has frequently been mislabeled and sold under the name of the native W. fragarioides for years.
The two species can be definitively distinguished by key morphological traits:
- Calyx Anatomy: The green backing (calyx) on the underside of the flower of W. fragarioides consists of exactly five smooth primary sepals and entirely lacks an epicalyx. By contrast, W. ternata features distinct, secondary mini-bractlets tucked right between each main sepal.
- Foliage Morphology: The native W. fragarioides features obovate (spoon-shaped) leaflets that taper smoothly to a narrow base, with very shallowly scalloped (crenate) edges at the tips. W. ternata has deeply wedge-shaped leaves with aggressive, sharp teeth and obvious splitting lobes.
- Petal Structure: The yellow blossoms of the native species feature narrow, widely spaced petals that leave open gaps revealing the green sepals behind them, whereas the Siberian species features broad, overlapping petals.
It is native to eastern North America, from Minnesota, Ontario,[5] Quebec, and Maine south to Indiana and Pennsylvania (and as far south as North Carolina in the mountains).[4]
It is evergreen.[6]
Conservation status in the United States
It is listed endangered in Connecticut,[7] Illinois, and Maine, as threatened in New Hampshire, as a special concern in Massachusetts, and as rare in Indiana.[8]
Native American ethnobotany
The Iroquois take a compound decoction of the plants as a blood remedy, and apply a poultice of the smashed plants to snakebites.[9]
References
- ↑ NatureServe. "Waldsteinia fragarioides". NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
- ↑ "Plants Profile for Waldsteinia fragarioides (Appalachian barren strawberry)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ↑ NRCS. "Waldsteinia fragarioides". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 7 August 2015.
- 1 2 Roger Tory Peterson and Margaret McKenny (1968). A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-central North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-395-91172-3.
- ↑ Dickinson, T.; Metsger, D.; Bull, J.; & Dickinson, R. (2004). ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Ltd., p.343.
- ↑ Richardson, Marc and Dan Jaffe (2018). Native Plants for New England Gardens, p.32.
- ↑ "Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species 2015". State of Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Bureau of Natural Resources. Retrieved 14 May 2018.(Note: This list is newer than the one used by plants.usda.gov and is more up-to-date.)
- ↑ "Plants Profile for Waldsteinia fragarioides (Appalachian barren strawberry)". plants.usda.gov. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ↑ Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, page 352
- Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
External links
- Waldsteinia fragarioides
- Waldsteinia fragarioides (in French)
Media related to Waldsteinia fragarioides at Wikimedia Commons