Virginia strawberry
Scarlet strawberry
The scarlet strawberry ( Fragaria virginiana) is native to North America and is one of the two original species of the garden strawberry. It is native to the United States (including Alaska) and Canada. She has compared to the wild strawberry -sized fruits.
Features
The scarlet strawberry is a perennial, herbaceous plant that has short rhizomes and forms several slender long streamers. The leaf and flower stems are scattered hairy and not crowded usually red.
The leaves are the most characteristic for the genus threefold, compound leaves, the stems are short, the leaf margin is strongly serrated. The teeth on the blade tip is narrower and shorter than the adjacent. The color of the leaves is blue-gray. The upper leaf surface is hairless, the bottom is naked hairy to silky.
The flowers are in pairs to 15 in inflorescences at three to 15 centimeters long flower stems, but are shorter than the leaves. The five white petals are six to eight ( 12) millimeters long.
The nutlets are available in the generic typical " berries " that are collecting fruits in reality. The berries are red, juicy and aromatic than the cultivated forms. The fruit stem is shorter than the sheets.
Dissemination
The Scarlet strawberry is native to North America and is presented here in open woods and clearings, often in disturbed habitats. It prefers sunny locations. It grows mainly 1200-3300 m above sea level.
System
There are four subspecies:
- Fragaria virginiana subsp. glauca ( S.Watson ) Staudt
- Fragaria virginiana subsp. grayana ( Vilm. ex J.Gay ) Staudt
- Fragaria virginiana subsp. platypetala ( Rydb. ) Staudt
- Fragaria virginiana subsp. virginiana
Importance
The fruits are collected and raw, frozen or dried eaten, but also processed into jams. The leaves were and are used for herbal teas.
The Scarlet strawberry is next to the Chile strawberry ( Fragaria chiloensis ), the most important parent species of the Garden strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa ).
Swell
- Günther Staudt: Systematics and geographic distribution of the American strawberry species: taxonomic studies in the genus Fragaria ( Rosaceae: Potentilleae ). Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley [ et al ] 1999.