five-leaf strawberry

Survives zone 5 through 8

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

One of the few Fragaria species with five leaflets rather than the typical three, native to montane forest clearings and scrub of west-central China; occurs in both red-fruited and white-fruited forms and is essentially unknown in cultivation, though of interest to breeders as a tetraploid genetic resource.

Hardiness

Zone 5–8

Habit

Groundcover

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer–autumn

Mature size

Low rosette 5–15 cm, spreading by runners

Light

Partial shade

Soil pH

6.0–7.0 (near-neutral)

Environment

Montane

Native range

West-central China — Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi and Henan provinces, at elevations of 1,000–2,700 m.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–4 yrs

Growth speed

Fast — a single plant can fill a square metre in a season by runner

Spacing

30 cm (12 in) apart — about 11 per m² (10 per 10 sq ft)

Leaf shape

A distinctive pinnately five-leaflet leaf (unusual for the genus), with obovate to elliptic leaflets 1–4 cm, acutely to obtusely toothed margins; the two lower leaflets are much smaller than the three upper ones.

Root system

Shallow and fibrous from a short woody crown, almost all of it in the top 15–30 cm, with new roots striking down wherever a runner touches soil. Nothing to dig around: the crown must sit at soil level, buried too deep it rots and planted too high it dries out.

Fruit description

Small, hemispheric to ovoid fruit, typically ripening red (a white-fruited form also occurs), with prominently reflexed persistent sepals.

Propagation

Runners, which is what the plant is built for -- peg a plantlet down into soil or a pot, sever it once rooted, and you have a clone. Seed matters only for species and breeding: it needs surface sowing, light, and cold stratification, and the seedlings are variable.

Pollination

Self-fertile

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.