Harman Patil (Editor)

Fragaria pentaphylla

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Kingdom
  
Plantae

Family
  
Rosaceae

Tribe
  
Potentilleae

Rank
  
Species

Order
  
Rosales

Subfamily
  
Rosoideae

Subtribe
  
Fragariinae

Similar
  
Mock strawberry, Compound fruit, Accessory fruit

Fragaria pentaphylla is a tetraploid species of wild strawberry native to China. It is referred to as 五叶草莓 wu ye cao mei.

Contents

Description

Usually 6–15 cm tall, this species usually blooms around April to May, the fruits are ripe by June. Characteristics include:

  • Thick leaves with 5 leaflets (2 auxiliary leaflets and 3 terminal leaflets)
  • Hemispheric fruit, sometimes white (f. alba)
  • Glabrous above, sparsely hairy beneath
  • Reflexed spetals
  • Flowers mostly in ones or in pairs- rarely in 3's.
  • Distribution

    Fragaria pentaphylla is native to the Chinese provinces of Sichuan Qinghai Gansu Shanxi and Henan. It is most often found on forests, forest clearings, scrub, mountain meadows, and open gravels at elevations of 1000–2700 m.

    Cultivation

    This species is rare, (if at all) in cultivation.

    Commercial value

    This plant has little or no commercial value. However, with chromosome doubling, this plant can be bred with Fragaria × ananassa, the garden strawberry, possibly introducing new traits, such as disease resistance or new flavors (especially f. alba) to cultivated strawberries.

    References

    Fragaria pentaphylla Wikipedia