Mock Strawberry
Wednesday, June 17, 2009Mock Strawberry or Indian Strawberry's botanic name is Potentilla Indica and it originates from southern and eastern continental Asia. This plant is not the 'real' strawberry that is grown for its fruit but rather a perennial that grows well in our hot and humid tropical climate.
The fruit is red and small and I learnt that it is edible but not tasty. The leaves are trifoliate and individual leaves are oval in shape and have serrated edges.
The flowers are small, bright yellow (the 'real' strawberry flowers are white) and have five petals.
I find that this plant is quite invasive in nature as its wire-thin stems creep, grow roots and produce crowns at each node. I have to keep training the stems back into the pot every now and then.
But if you want a new plant, it is easy... just place a pot of soil next to it ;-)
Water this plant regularly to keep the soil moist all the time and place it in a semi-shaded area.
Actually Mock Strawberry is not a popular garden plant here due to its invasive nature and that it does not produce tasty fruit. But the plant does make a nice ornamental plant on pedestal or hanging pots with wire-thin stem/stolon falling out from the pot. Or merely as ground cover.
Updated on 19 June 2009: Below picture was taken this morning (a few days after above pictures were taken). You can see more fruits now.
Posts
14 comments
The plant may be invasive in frost free climates but it is very pretty and an ideal subject for a hanging pot. And you have photographed it so beautifully.
ReplyDeleteNow you are giving me idea for additional pot at Kakdah's hanging garden!!... Very nice.., ~ bangchik
ReplyDeleteThe red fruit looks lovely. How do you make the photos like a professional studio style? Love your last picture, it looks like the cover of greeting card. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI love the leaf on your mock strawberry and I love the container arrangement you have created with it -- a tall plant in the back, with a fuller trailing one in the front. And, both the flower and the fruit on your strawberry are colorful and eye-catching. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteReally like the Mock Strawberry, even if the fruits are not tasty--it makes an attractive plant.
ReplyDeletevery nice combination, liked it
ReplyDeleteThis is new to me. I like the fact that it bears fruit that turns red. Great contrast with the lush green. I'd love to have it, that is, if I find it in a nursery here.
ReplyDeleteSteph, both you and Kanak correctly identified the Adenium. It's getting huge. I grew it from seed, too.
ReplyDeleteThey will get much bigger planted in the ground than they will in a small pot. The secret is that they like peat moss (a little surprising for a succulent). And I never use organic fertilizer on anything.
Since Bermuda is frost-free, I like to grow everything outside. Even my Lithops, and Venus flytraps.
And, yes - that's Angelina's little nose!
Hey.. I like this plant... can hang nicely. It looks very sweet.. and you did a great job with Picasa :P
ReplyDeletewow, these grow like weeks in ireland, they are all over my garden, the surrounding valley and all over the hills.
ReplyDeletewe eat them when we get a good sized strawberry, but mostly ignore them.
i haven't blogged about them yet, but will do in the future as they now grow out of my gravel beds :O
It is very pretty and dainty :)
ReplyDeleteBrad
I think it's nice kind, for an invasive type of plant.
ReplyDeleteoh! Interesting! I saw this plant before, only that I thought it wasn't a very healthy strawberry plant, with lots of disfigured fruits haha. Now I know. Thank you for sharing! :) - Sandy @Gardening on Cloud 9
ReplyDeleteinteresting, especially since we have many of them in our garden...
ReplyDelete