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Mock Strawberry🌸
Potentilla indica
ヤブヘビイチゴ（ヘビイチゴ）
A perennial that produces yellow five-petaled flowers from spring to early summer, followed by red strawberry-like fruits. The fruits are nearly tasteless and harmless but not palatable. It spreads via runners (stolons). True strawberries (Fragaria) have white flowers. The Japanese name means "snake strawberry," either because it grows in places frequented by snakes or from a folk belief that it was a poisonous lure used by snakes.
Identification Points
- ✓Yellow five-petaled flowers (true strawberries have white flowers)
- ✓Red glossy fruit that is tasteless
- ✓Trifoliate leaves (three leaflets)
- ✓Spreads by runners along the ground
Habitat
Roadsides, grasslands, embankments, and gardens
Season
April–June (flowers); May–August (fruit)
Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Compound
Venation
Pinnate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Leaf shape
Ovate
Growth form
Herb
Petal count
5 petals
Petal fusion
Free
Flower color
Yellow
Flowering season
Spring
Habitat
Roadside
Phylogenetic Positionバラ科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Eudicots > Core eudicots > Rosales > Rosaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous (approx. 90 million years ago onward)
Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification