Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Rosales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Potentilla indica
FAMILY
Rosaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Read about Duchesnea and Potentilla from Alan Weakley and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Read more about Potentilla at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Duchesnea indica
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Potentilla indica
INCLUDING Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9 (2014)
Duchesnea indica var. indica
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-02-001:
Duchesnea indica FAMILY Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Duchesnea indica
COMMON NAME:
Indian Strawberry, Mock Strawberry, Snakeberry
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_duin_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0303o_06
March Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm090319_001
March Greenville County SC
The leaves are more coarsely and crenately toothed than Fragaria, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
COMPARE
leaves of Fragaria and Potentilla
)
JK Marlow jkm090319_003
March Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm100427_051
April Greenville County SC
5 bracts, widened upward with 3(5) teeth, interspersed with 5 calyx lobes, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
sepals and bracts of Cinquefoil and Strawberry species
)
JK Marlow jkm210408_9346
April Greenville County SC
Blackwell Heritage Preserve
Potentilla hebiichigo is similar and has been overlooked in eastern North America, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_duchesnea_indica
April
Flowers have 5 yellow petals, narrowly obovate to elliptic, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
flowers of Cinquefoil and Strawberry species
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_duchesnea_indica_4
April
)
JK Marlow jkm100516_033
May Greenville County SC
Fruit an aggregate of achenes, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
fruits that are an aggregate of achenes
)
JK Marlow jkm100516_036
May Greenville County SC
The strawberry-like fruit is not sweet and, unlike Fragaria, its interior flesh is whitish, per Weakley's Flora (2025).
)
JK Marlow jkm100516_039
May Greenville County SC
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmdindica_huger
May Berkeley County SC
Francis Marion National Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm100622_003
June Greenville County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (2/10/25):
Potentilla indica
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Duchesnea indica
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Potentilla indica
INCLUDING
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 9
Duchesnea indica var. indica
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 097-02-001:
Duchesnea indica
FAMILY
Rosaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Duchesnea indica
498
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Disturbed areas, lawns, gardens, weedy clearings, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: Asia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:
LEAVES:
Ternately compound
Alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Yellow
Radially symmetrical
5-lobed calyx/5 bracts
5 petals
20 stamens, in 3 lengths
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Red
Aggregate of achenes
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p058
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p366
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p177
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p526
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p240
- Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (Chafin, 2007) p357
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p266
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p194
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p026
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p109
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p311
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p116
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p147
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p071
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p172
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