Foraged Berry Identification

[Viirin]

I found a berry growing wild, and I think it's snakeberry (edible but tasteless) but it doesn't really look like it exactly. Its leaves look more like raspberry, and it grows like a ground-vine, but the berry looks more like an upright strawberry with red seeds. What even is this thing? I'm trying to grow it either way but I was hoping someone here would know what it is.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Looks to me like wild strawberry.

 

[day_trippr]

Yup, sure looks like it to me as well. We have those growing around our family's cabin in the NH White Mountains - they were in a wild flower mix we planted in 1984 (jeeze I'm hella old!) instead of conventional "grass" as those wild strawberry plants are super low profile and help keep the property under control without having to mow every week...

https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/plant/Fragaria-virginiana
Cheers!

 

[Viirin]

Thanks, guys! I transplanted some into potting mix, but they dried out badly and I think they're dead now. Tonight I'm planning on getting 2 more samples (there are only a few left, and they're going to build something on the property so I'm taking everything before I move from Pennsylvania to Iowa next month) and put them in a coconut shell / potting soil mix.
Think that'll keep it okay?

I wanna grow a lot more of these so I can use them as ingredients once I have enough of them.

 

[DBhomebrew]

I wanna grow a lot more of these so I can use them as ingredients once I have enough of them.

I've never consumed them myself, but the bunnies sure do enjoy them! Like day_trippr, I appreciate the low maintenance sections lawn.

 

[Deadalus]

Thanks, guys! I transplanted some into potting mix, but they dried out badly and I think they're dead now. Tonight I'm planning on getting 2 more samples (there are only a few left, and they're going to build something on the property so I'm taking everything before I move from Pennsylvania to Iowa next month) and put them in a coconut shell / potting soil mix.
Think that'll keep it okay?

I wanna grow a lot more of these so I can use them as ingredients once I have enough of them.

You'd be better off growing actual strawberries or other berries that people actually consume.


I received those wild strawberries mixed in with some strawberry crowns and they ruined my strawberry bed for 2-3 years to where I had to pull them out and restart the bed as they are kind of useless eating. They do spread quite easiily so if wanted for a native ground cover instead of grass, there's a use but if not native you'd be introducing a vigorous non-native species to the plot.

 

[day_trippr]

The first paragraph of the article I linked above: "Grower beware: its vigor can also manifest as aggression, so this plant should be kept out of garden beds saved for more delicate low-growing perennials."

Sounds about right

Cheers!

 

[Viirin]

The recipe I want to use them for specifically, is to combine with violets for jelly or kumquat for preserves. I don't know if it could make alcohol or not, but I don't plan on letting it grow further than I set for it.

Where it grows now, there are a bunch of other plants, and it doesn't look able to grow or spread very far where it is. I mean the other plants around it are weeds, and we know how aggressive those are, but I figure it would be fine. Plus I'd start them in planters and see how they behave there first.

 

[suzeQ]

strawberry-alexandria-alpine You might want to grab a pack of these seeds. They're very tasty, prolific and they self seed but I haven't found them to be problematic in the right location.

 

[Deadalus]

I had them planted in raised beds and they escaped into the aisles between rows, the raised bed next to it and the pollinator bed adjacent. I pulled some out earlier this spring and it's also been about 2-3 years since I moved the strawberry bed. I don't know what recipe you have but having also tasted these, I can't fathom why you'd go to the trouble of planting vs using a delicious home grown strawberry. It's your time though!

 

[Viirin]

I'm trying to do some research on mycelium networks and how they interact with wild and domesticated plants is one, and another reason is because I want a tasteless fruit to act as a filler with my actually yummy stuff I wanna grow.

Though, suzeQ's idea reminded me of something I can't find anywhere since I saw it once: pineberry. That I'll make sure to grow, since no one does apparently.

Deadalus, thank you! I'm thinking with everyone's help, I might just do a tristrawberry jam? Wild, pine, straw. But since it's so aggressive in good soil (where I found it, it was growing in and around a buried cloth covered in rocks), I'll have to use some of the other plants that some of my friends offered me, which should make it unable to grow where I don't want it (daffodils and barrel cactus).

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

Wild strawberries are delicious. They can be a little bland when they are fresh, but once cooked into strawberry jam/preserves, their flavor really comes out. We used to pick them as a kid. Tedious to pick since they're so small but oh-so-delicious!

 

[Deadalus]

Wild strawberries are delicious. They can be a little bland when they are fresh, but once cooked into strawberry jam/preserves, their flavor really comes out. We used to pick them as a kid. Tedious to pick since they're so small but oh-so-delicious!

Were they actually wild strawberries or escaped cultivated ones? The ones I had mixed in were not tasty and fibrous and were the wild kind. If they make good jam, ok. If you are going to the trouble of growing them, real homegrown strawberries make great jam.

Here's a pic from last year regarding small strawberries. I had fertilized them and unknowingly had let them get too dense. Lots of strawberries all small from an 80 sq ft bed. I too was determined to make jam anyway. So after picking the whole bed I was able to make....one pint. It was good but nowhere near as good as when they produced regular sized strawberries.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Were they actually wild strawberries or escaped cultivated ones? The ones I had mixed in were not tasty and fibrous and were the wild kind. If they make good jam, ok. If you are going to the trouble of growing them, real homegrown strawberries make great jam.

Here's a pic from last year regarding small strawberries. I had fertilized them and unknowingly had let them get too dense. Lots of strawberries all small from an 80 sq ft bed. I too was determined to make jam anyway. So after picking the whole bed I was able to make....one pint. It was good but nowhere near as good as when they produced regular sized strawberries.

Those don't look like wild strawberries, more like a stunted cultivated type. Note the size and density of the 'seeds' compared to the one in the OP.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

Were they actually wild strawberries or escaped cultivated ones? The ones I had mixed in were not tasty and fibrous and were the wild kind. If they make good jam, ok. If you are going to the trouble of growing them, real homegrown strawberries make great jam.

Here's a pic from last year regarding small strawberries. I had fertilized them and unknowingly had let them get too dense. Lots of strawberries all small from an 80 sq ft bed. I too was determined to make jam anyway. So after picking the whole bed I was able to make....one pint. It was good but nowhere near as good as when they produced regular sized strawberries.

These are wild strawberries, found them all over southern parts of Quebec. Fragaria vesca - Wikipedia

 

[DBhomebrew]

There's Fragaria vesca (woodland) and Fragaria virginiana (wild). Also, Fragaria chiloensis (beach, or coastal).

The more I look at OP's specimen, I'm not sure what type it is. Vesca and virginiana don't have dark, shiny leaves. Chiloensis doesn't look quite right either. There are other native varieties as well.

 

[Deadalus]

Those don't look like wild strawberries, more like a stunted cultivated type. Note the size and density of the 'seeds' compared to the one in the OP.

I never said they were wild strawberries. I said they were small because I had fertilized them and they were overly dense. (Possibly a pH issue too.) I collected them right out of my garden along with the scapes, lettuce, pea pods, and nasturtium that are also in the picture. The bed is 4'x20=80 sq ft. It was a copious amount of small strawberries. Pollination was quite good. But all I got was a pint of jam. I suppose if it has replaced one' s entire lawn there's potential there.

 

[DBhomebrew]

The ones I had mixed in were not tasty and fibrous and were the wild kind.

I was confused, I guess. Cheers.

 

[Deadalus]

I was confused, I guess. Cheers.

No need to guess, you were. Instead of selectively quoting and trying to pass the blame to me you could have read the earlier post where I mentioned they were mixed in with commercial ones and removed several years ago. Your mistake, own it. Cheers!

 

[DBhomebrew]

I was owning it. Pointed out where my confusion came from. Raised the glass and said "Cheers" to say "My bad, a drink with you." No need to clink my glass so hard it splashes both our beers.

Out of curiosity, do you happen to know which variety of non-cultivated berry they were? Virginiana?

 

[Deadalus]

"I guess" does not always translate to "My bad" but I will give you the benefit of the doubt since tone is not always evident on the internet. Opa!

I did not key them down to exactly determining the species but the different sources I was reading pointed to them being wild strawberries. The berry did look like the one pictured in the OP. It was difficult to tell them apart from the cultivated ones, particularly as I had planted a mix of cultivated ones as well and as is the case with strawberries, I let them spread some and waited a year so I had to pull the whole bed and started a new one on the other side of the garden. I was able to tell them apart when they produced but I was unsure about plants that didn't so I cut my losses instead of screwing around with them.

 

[DBhomebrew]

 

[Viirin]

I just found the species! No wonder we were all confused. Link is below. Where it was growing, it's growing in some dirt on large gravel. No wonder it grows so well there, and I can't keep it alive in my apartment no matter what I do. I don't have awesome drainage!

https://extension.umd.edu/sites/ext...indian_mock_strawberry_1600.jpg?itok=56E1mCr2

 

[DBhomebrew]

That pic doesn't look your OP either. The OP is dark green and shiny, shorter, rounder. The new one's leaves look to be lighter, not shiny, longer, pointier.

 

[Viirin]

I'm guessing that's because we took the picture at night a few minutes after it rained? The plant in my window next to me looks just like it. Plus, the fruit in that pic is the only one that is aimed straight upwards, unlike all the actual strawberries that dangle.

 

[mashpaddled]

Either wild strawberry or mock strawberry. Both are edible but mock strawberries have zero flavor. You can tell the difference in a few ways. Mock strawberries grow yellow flowers and the fruit grow upright. The fruit is also bumpy and more round. Wild strawberries grow white or pink flowers and the fruit grows downward. The fruit will have a point at the end and an exterior that looks like cultivated varieties.

It's unclear from OP's photo which direction the fruit grows. When wet the mock strawberries can lean over due to water weight. If the plant is dry and the fruit stick straight up, it's mock strawberry.

 

[Viirin]

We'll try to get a ground photo of it tonight, and it hasn't rained and probably won't in the next two hours. I didn't look at the plants when they were flowering, I only paid attention to them when the red fruits caught my eye. I did take a look last time I foraged for flowers, but only a different plant nearby had any. I'll try for a 3-point perspective tonight.