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wild strawberry, wood strawberry, woodland strawberry, woods strawberry

Habit Plants hermaphroditic (sometimes pistillate in subsp. bracteata).
Leaves

bright green (sometimes darker green in subsp. californica), not glaucous, thin, not leathery, not reticulately veined abaxially, terminal tooth of terminal leaflet longer than or equal to adjacent teeth (sometimes equal to or shorter than adjacent teeth in subsp. californica).

Flowers

bisexual or unisexual;

hypanthium 11–21.2 mm diam.;

petals 5, ± obovate to nearly orbiculate, margins overlapping or distinct.

Achenes

deeply embedded, in shallow pits, or superficial, yellowish green to reddish brown, 1–1.5 mm;

bractlets and sepals clasping, spreading, or reflexed in fruit;

torus easily or not easily separating from hypanthium.

Fragaria vesca

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; MA; ME; MI; MN; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NM; NY; OH; OR; PA; SD; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK; Mexico; Eurasia [Introduced in West Indies, South America, Pacific Islands]
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Discussion

Subspecies 4 (4 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Fruiting tori easily separating from hypanthia, tori globose to ± oblong; achenes superficial or in shallow pits; leaves green to dark green, terminal leaflet blades ± round or slightly ovate-rhombic, length/width 0.9–1.3, teeth: relative number 0.4–0.9, relative size 1–2.3; bractlets and sepals spreading or reflexed in fruit.
subsp. californica
1. Fruiting tori easily or not easily separating from hypanthia, tori globose, subglobose, oblong-ovoid, or elongate-conic (slightly oblate or conic); achenes superficial, in shallow pits, or deeply embedded; leaves green to bright green, terminal leaflet blades ovate or obovate to slightly rhombic, length/width 1.1–1.8, teeth: relative number 0.2–0.6, relative size 1.5–4; bractlets and sepals clasping, spreading, or reflexed in fruit
→ 2
2. Flowers usually bisexual, sometimes pistillate, 15.3–23.8 mm diam.; petals usually white, sometimes pinkish; bractlets clasping or spreading to slightly reflexed, sepals clasping in fruit; achenes in shallow pits or deeply embedded; tori usually not easily separating from hypanthia.
subsp. bracteata
2. Flowers bisexual, 12–20.5 mm diam.; petals white; bractlets and sepals spreading to reflexed in fruit; achenes superficial or in shallow pits; tori easily separating from hypanthia
→ 3
3. Fruiting tori globose or subglobose (often slightly oblate or conic); leaves bright green; achenes superficial or in shallow pits.
subsp. vesca
3. Fruiting tori elongate-conic (often somewhat pointed); leaves green to bright green; achenes superficial.
subsp. americana
Source FNA vol. 9, p. 275.
Parent taxa Rosaceae > subfam. Rosoideae > tribe Potentilleae > Fragaria
Sibling taxa
F. chiloensis, F. virginiana
Subordinate taxa
F. vesca subsp. americana, F. vesca subsp. bracteata, F. vesca subsp. californica, F. vesca subsp. vesca
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 494. (1753)
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