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Mock Strawberry🌸
Potentilla hebiichigo
ヘビイチゴ
A perennial in the rose family. Grows on paddy ridges and roadsides. Bears small red strawberry-like fruits that are tasteless — the Japanese name '蛇苺' ('snake strawberry') comes from the legend that only snakes eat them. Formerly classified in the genus Duchesnea, now placed in Potentilla. Contrary to folk belief, it is non-toxic.
Identification Points
- ✓Trifoliate leaves with ovate, serrated leaflets
- ✓Yellow 5-petaled flowers, 1–1.5 cm across
- ✓Spherical red aggregate fruit dotted with achenes
Habitat
Paddy ridges, roadsides, grasslands
Season
April to June (flowers), May to July (fruit)
Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Compound
Growth form
Herb
Petal count
5 petals
Flower color
Yellow
Flowering season
Spring
Habitat
Grassland
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