Indian Strawberry (Potentilla indica)

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Potentilla indica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Potentilla
Species:
P. indica
Binomial name
Potentilla indica
Synonyms[1]
  • Duchesnea indica (Andrews) Teschem.
  • Duchesnea major (Makino) Makino
  • Fragaria indica Andrews
  • Fragaria malayana Roxb.
  • Fragaria nilagirica Zenker
  • Potentilla denticulosa Ser.
  • Potentilla durandii Torr. & A.Gray
  • Potentilla indica var. microphylla (T.T.Yu & T.C.Ku) H.Ohashi
  • Potentilla trifida Pall.

Potentilla indica, known commonly in as false strawberry, mock strawberry, Indian strawberry, wild strawberry,[2] (also snakeberry in North America[3]) is a flowering plant in the family Rosaceae,[1] native to West Asia to India, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.[4] It has ternate foliage and an aggregate accessory fruit, similar to true strawberries of the genus Fragaria.[5] Unlike the white or slightly pink flowers of true strawberries, Potentilla indica has yellow flowers, as do many other Potentilla species. It is native to eastern and southern Asia, but has naturalized in many regions worldwide. They are considered to be an invasive species and weed by some.[1]

Many sources consider this plant part of the genus Potentilla[1][3] due to evidence from chloroplast genetic sequence data that the genus Duchesnea is included within Potentilla,[6] though some still list it as Duchesnea indica.[5][7][8]

Description

[edit]
Potentilla indica bloom

The herbaceous plant spreads along creeping stolons, rooting and producing plantlets at each node.[5] The leaves are trifoliate, dark green, and somewhat thick.[8] The flowers are produced singly on axillary peduncles. The yellow petals of Potentilla indica have a nectar guide near the center of each petal that absorbs UV light more strongly than the rest of the petal and is visible only in the UV spectrum.[9] The most common variety, Potentilla indica var. indica, has fruiting receptacles and achenes that are red and glossy.[10][11] The rare variety D. indica f. albocaput Naruh., with white receptacles and cream achenes, has been reported only in Argentina and Japan.[12]

  • Blossom
    Blossom
  • Mature fruit
    Mature fruit
  • Dried fruits
    Dried fruits

Invasiveness

[edit]

Mock strawberry is considered invasive in some regions of the United States and Canada, where it may disrupt local ecosystems.[13][14][15][16] Studies have shown that it can negatively impact the abundance of springtails and ants, affecting soil biodiversity.[17]

Potentilla indica

Uses

[edit]

The fresh berries are edible but considered less palatable than proper strawberries.[18][19]

The cousin Potentilla fulgens is widely distributed in the Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya, northeastern India, where the plants are known in the Khasi as lyniangbru (and in English as "Himalayan cinquefoil"[a]), and usage of this species extends to the Potentilla genus.[20] Roots of Potentilla are consumed (chewed) with betel nuts by the Khasi people, and the P. indica species is also used in this way.[2]

There is recorded ethno-medicinal usage (in northeastern India) as anthelmintic to get rid of parasites[2][b] and to treat lung symptoms.[2] A survey conducted in Assam, India from 2018-2020 documented the use of Potentilla indica by traditional healers to treat asthma.[22] In traditional Chinese medicine, it is used for clearing heat, cooling blood, detumescence, and detoxication.[23]

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Explanatory notes

[edit]
  1. ^ This common name is perhaps more commonly applied to Potentilla atrosanguinea.
  2. ^ Other sources list P. fulgens for treatment for intestinal parasites in Western Himalayas, rather than P. indica.[21][20]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Potentilla indica (Andrews) Th.Wolf". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Quattrocchi, Umberto, ed. (2016). "Potentilla indica". CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (5 Volume Set). Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 1494. ISBN 9781482250640.
  3. ^ a b Weakley, Alan S. (2024). "Flora of the southeastern United States Web App". University of North Carolina Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, U.S.A. Retrieved 5 December 2025.
  4. ^ Hammer, Karl; Pérez, Miguel Ángel Esquivel; Long, Chunlin, eds. (2025). "Rosacea". Diversity and Geography of Cultivated Plants. Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 1619. ISBN 9781040275887.
  5. ^ a b c Barbara Ertter & James L. Reveal (2014). Rosaceae In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico [Online] 25+ vols. Vol. 9. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  6. ^ Torsten Eriksson; Malin S. Hibbs; Anne D. Yoder; Charles F. Delwiche & Michael J. Donoghue (2003). "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". Int. J. Plant Sci. 164 (2): 197–211. doi:10.1086/346163. S2CID 22378156.
  7. ^ "World Flora Online: Duchesnea Sm". World Flora Online Consortium. 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b Kyeong-In Heo; Sangryong Lee; Yongsung Kim; Jongsun Park & Sangtae Lee (2019). "Taxonomic studies of the tribe Potentilleae (Rosaceae) in Korea". Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy (in Korean). 49 (1): 28–69. doi:10.11110/kjpt.2019.49.1.28.
  9. ^ Naruhashi, Naohiro; Sugimoto, Mamoru (1996). "The Floral Biology of Duchesnea (Rosaceae)". Plant Species Biology. 11 (2–3): 173–184. doi:10.1111/j.1442-1984.1996.tb00143.x. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  10. ^ Barbara Ertter & James L. Reveal (2014). Rosaceae In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico [Online] 25+ vols. Vol. 9. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  11. ^ Soják, Jiří (2012). "Potentilla L. (Rosaceae) and related genera in Asia (excluding the former USSR), Africa and New Guinea - Notes on Potentilla XXVIII". Plant Diversity and Evolution. 130 (1–2): 7–157. doi:10.1127/1869-6155/2012/0130-0060.
  12. ^ Debes, Mario A.; Orce, Ingrid G.; Luque, Ana C.; Díaz-Ricci, Juan C.; Castagnaro, Atilio P.; Arias, Marta E. (2018). "First report of Duchesnea indica f. albocaput (Rosaceae) in Northwestern Argentina". Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica. 53 (1): 83–91. doi:10.31055/1851.2372.v53.n1.19890. hdl:11336/101935.
  13. ^ "Mock strawberry". extension.umn.edu. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  14. ^ "false strawberry, Potentilla indica Rosales: Rosaceae". www.invasive.org. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  15. ^ "Indian Strawberry (Mock Strawberry)". Missouri Department of Conservation. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  16. ^ "Potentilla indica", Wikipedia, 2024-08-14, retrieved 2024-11-23
  17. ^ Landsman, Andrew P.; Schmit, John Paul; Matthews, Elizabeth R (2021). "Invasive Plants Differentially Impact Forest Invertebrates, Providing Taxon-Specific Benefits by Enhancing Structural Complexity". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 9. doi:10.3389/fevo.2021.682140.
  18. ^ "Are the mock strawberries toxic?". FDA Poisonous Plant Database. 1986. Archived from the original on 2021-05-22. Retrieved 2022-06-16.
  19. ^ United States Department of the Army (2009). The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-60239-692-0. OCLC 277203364.
  20. ^ a b Medhi, Arundhati; Malakar, Rupshikha; Bhuyan, Birina; Deka, Sawrajyoti; Adhikary, Kalyani (2023). "A Comprehensive Review on Anticancer and Antitumor Potentials of Indigenous Plants Found in North East India". In Chakraborty, Raja; Sen, Saikat (eds.). A Comprehensive Review on Anticancer and Antitumor Potentials of Indigenous Plants Found in North East India. Bentham Science Publishers. pp. 193–194. doi:10.2174/9789815080414123010012. ISBN 9789815080421.
  21. ^ Manikandan, R.; Nithya, S. P.; Devi, R. Mehala (2023). "Checklist Flora of Sunderdhunga Valley, Western Himalaya, with Emphasis on Ethno-Medicinal Plants". In Arunachalam, Karuppusamy; Yang, Xuefei; Sasidharan, Sreeja Puthanpura (eds.). Bioprospecting of Tropical Medicinal Plants. Springer Nature. p. 181. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-28780-0_6. ISBN 9783031287800.
  22. ^ Gogoi, Pinki; Lungphi, Pyonim; Das, A. P.; Ayam, Victor Singh (2023). Phytomedicines Used in Respiratory Diseases by Traditional Healers of Lakhimpur and Dhemaji Districts of Assam, India In: Arunachalam, K., Yang, X., Puthanpura Sasidharan, S. (eds) Bioprospecting of Tropical Medicinal Plants. Springer, Cham. pp. 227–241. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-28780-0_7. ISBN 978-3-031-28780-0. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  23. ^ Ye, Huagu; Li, Chuyuan; Ye, Wencai; Zeng, Feiyan, eds. (2022). Common Chinese Materia Medica, Volume 4. Vol. 4. Springer Singapore. p. 39. doi:10.1007/978-981-16-5884-6. ISBN 978-981-16-5884-6.

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