Weed Information: Potentilla indica (mockstrawberry, Indian)
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Potentilla indica (mockstrawberry, Indian)

Family: Rosaceae

Description

Similar to common strawberry but with yellow petals and the fruit not very juicy and unpalatable. An escaped ornamental most commonly found in lawns or gardens.

Characteristics

Flower Color
  • Yellow
Inflorescence Type (How the flowers are arranged on the plant)
  • Solitary, axillary
Number of Petals
  • 5 petals
Petal Separation
  • Completely free to base
Petal Tip
  • Pointed
  • Rounded
Flower Symmetry
  • Flowers regular
Flower Length (Head length in the Asteraceae)
  • 3 mm (.12 inch)
  • 4 mm (.16 inch)
  • 5 mm (.20 inch)
Flower Width (Head width in the Asteraceae)
  • 8 mm (.32 inch)
  • 9 mm (.36 inch)
  • 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
  • 1.5 cm (.60 inch)
  • 2.0 cm (.80 inch)
Number of Sepals
  • 5 sepals
  • 10 sepals
Sepal Separation
  • Completely free to base
Sepal Tip
  • Pointed
  • Toothed
Flower Sex
  • Bisexual (perfect)
Number of Styles
  • More than 10 styles
Number of Stamens
  • more than 10 stamens
Stamens Attached to the Petals
  • Stamens NOT attached to the petals
Stamens Connate (united)
  • Filaments or anthers NOT united

Carpel Separation
  • Carpels separated
Number of Carpels
  • >10 carpels
Ovary Position
  • Superior (hypogynous)
Fruit Type
  • Berry, green
  • Berry, red
  • Aggregate
Fruit Length at Maturity
  • 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
  • 1.5 cm (.60 inch)
  • 2.0 cm (.80 inch)
Fruit Width at Maturity
  • 1.0 cm (.40 inch)
  • 1.5 cm (.60 inch)
  • 2.0 cm (.80 inch)
Burs
  • Fruit or seed NOT bur-like

Leaf Arrangement
  • All basal
  • Alternate
Leaf Type
  • Trifoliolate (3 leaflets)
Stipules
  • Foliaceous 4-10 mm (.16 - .40 in) long
  • Foliaceous > 1 cm (> .40 inch) long
Tendrils
  • Tendrils absent
Venation
  • Pinnate
Petiole (leaf stem) Blade Ratio
  • Petiole > 75% total length
Leaf Length (blade PLUS petiole)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.60 - 4.0 inches)
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
Leaf Width
  • 2 - 4 cm (.80 - 1.6 inches)
  • 4 - 10 cm (1.6 - 4.0 inches)
Leaf or Leaflet Margin
  • Crenate
  • Dentate
  • Serrate
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Base
  • Acute (cuneate)
Leaf or Leaflet Tip
  • Acute
  • Rounded (obtuse)
Leaf or Leaflet Blade Surface
  • Hirsute
  • Sericeous or villous (silky)
  • Strigose
  • Villous or sericious (silky)
Succulence
  • Not succulent

Milky Juice
  • Juice NOT milky (watery)
Woodiness
  • Herbaceous
Spines or Thorns
  • Spines or Thorns ABSENT
Aromatic (vegetative structures)
  • Not aromatic
Life Cycle
  • Perennial
Growth Habit (while flowering)
  • Spreading ascending
  • Erect, columnar (narrow)
  • Erect, spherical (bushy)
Plant Height at Maturity
  • 5 - 10 cm (2.0 - 4.0 inches)
  • 1 - 2 dm (4.0 - 8.0 inches)
Wind Dissemination
  • Not wind disseminated
Moisture Regime
  • Mesic
Chlorophyll
  • Present

Stem Cross Section
  • Round
Flowering Stem Leaves
  • Stem leaves greatly reduced
Main Stem Branches
  • Main stem unbranched
  • Main stem branched

Root or Vegetative Propagule
  • Fibrous
  • Stoloniferous

US State
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Michigan
  • Missouri
  • Mississippi
  • North Carolina
  • New Jersey
  • New York
  • Ohio
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • West Virginia
  • Indiana
  • Maryland
  • California
  • Iowa
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Washington
  • Nebraska
Canadian Province or Territory
  • British Columbia
  • Ontario
Other
  • District of Columbia

  • Identifying Seedling and Mature Weeds (Southeastern US) 1980 North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, Bulletin #461 See page: 26
  • Weeds, 1955 (1980) Walter Conrad Muenscher, ISBN# 0-8014-1266-8 See page: 265
  • Weeds of Arkansas 1981 (MP 169-5M-3-81) See page: 56
  • Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses, 1992 Univ. of Florida, Gainesville Publication # SP-79, See page: 172
  • Weeds of the Northeast, 1956, Univ. of Delaware Field Manual #1 See species #: 333
  • Weeds of the Northeast, 1997 Cornell University ISBN# 0-8014-8334-4 See page: 296
  • Weeds of the South, University of Georgia 2009, ISBN#0-8203-3046-9 See page: 269
  • Weeds of the United States and Their Control, Lorenzi 1987, ISBN# 0-442-25884-4 See page: 163
  • Listed as a `Weed` by the Biota of North America Program, 2008 X
  • Listed in the WSSA Composite List of Weeds X
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