- Mock Strawberry
Taxobox
name = Mock Strawberry
image_width = 240px
regnum =Plant ae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis =Magnoliopsida
ordo =Rosales
familia =Rosaceae
genus = "Potentilla "
species = "P. indica"
binomial = "Potentilla indica"
binomial_authority = (Andrews) Th.WolfThe Mock Strawberry, "Potentilla indica" (formerly "Duchesnea indica"), is also known as the Indian Strawberry. Although the foliage and fruit are quite similar, it is not in the genus "
Fragaria " (true strawberries) and can readily be distinguished by its yellowflower s, as opposed to the flowers of true strawberries which are white or slightly pink. It is native to eastern and southernAsia , but has been introduced to many other areas as anornamental plant , though it is considered anoxious weed in some regions.The leaves are trifoliate, roughly veined beneath, dark green, and often persisting through the winter, arising from short crowns. The plant spreads along creeping stolons, rooting and producing crowns at each node. The yellow flowers are produced in mid spring, then sporadically throughout the growing season. The fruits are red, with red seeds, and while juicy and edible are not sweet like the true strawberries.
Recent genetic evidence has shown that this genus is better included within "Potentilla", [cite journal | url = http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/346163 | doi = 10.1086/346163 | title = The Phylogeny of Rosoideae (Rosaceae) Based on Sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS) of Nuclear Ribosomal DNA and the trnL/F Region of Chloroplast DNA | author = Torsten Eriksson, Malin S. Hibbs, Anne D. Yoder, Charles F. Delwiche, and Michael J. Donoghue | journal = Int. J Plant Sci. | volume = 164 | issue = 2 | pages = 197–211 | year = 2003] but currently most sources still list it in the now-defunct genus "Duchesnea".
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.