Fragaria vesca (wild strawberry, "Ezohebiichigo")

Japanese name: エゾヘビイチゴ （蝦夷蛇苺）
Scientific name: Fragaria vesca

[Overview]
A perennial found along roadsides and in grassland.
It usually produces runners, which root at the nodes and form daughter plants.
The rhizome is thick, short and erect.
Three to seven compound leaves, each made up of 3 leaflets, grow in a cluster from the tip of the rhizome.
The leaflets have coarse teeth; the terminal leaflet is ovate to broadly obovate, 1–6 cm long and 1–4 cm wide.
Both sides of the leaf are hairy, and the underside is densely covered with soft hairs, giving it a whitish tinge.
The petiole is 3–15 cm long and hairy.
The stem bears compound leaves of 3 leaflets or simple leaves.
A cyme bears 1–4 flowers.
The flowers are white, 5-petaled, 1–1.5 cm across, with round to obovate petals.
There are 20 stamens, almost as long as the pistils.
The flower stalk is densely covered with long white hairs.
The fruit is ovate, 1 cm long, ripens red and is edible.
Rarely, the fruit is white.
The part that looks like the fruit is the enlarged receptacle, and the so-called seeds of the strawberry on its surface are the true fruits (achenes).
It is highly variable, and some forms do not produce runners while others are ever-bearing.

[History]
It was introduced in the Meiji period and has become naturalized in Hokkaido.

[Uses]
The fruit is eaten raw or processed into jam and other products.
The leaves are made into herbal tea.
The leaves and roots are used medicinally.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division of daughter plants.
The seeds need light to germinate, so sow them in seed-starting soil without covering them with soil, and water from the bottom so the soil does not dry out.
It grows well in any soil as long as the site is sunny, well drained and well ventilated.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface dries.
Little fertilizer is needed; for plants in the ground, base fertilizer is enough, and for potted plants, slow-release fertilizer may be placed on the soil in spring and autumn, depending on growth.
Pests and diseases include gray mold, powdery mildew and aphids.
Also watch for damage to the fruit by slugs, pill bugs and wild birds.

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