Barren Strawberry - Potentilla sterilis

Description

Low, hairy plant with long rooting runners. Leaves bluish green, trifoliate, hairy, with long oval toothed leaflets, grey silky beneath. Flowers white, 10 to 15 mm with gaps between the slightly notched petals.

Similar Species

Barren Strawberry can be distinguished from Wild Strawberry by the terminal tooth of the leaf being shorter than those on either side.

Identification difficulty
ID guidance

Grey green leaves with terminal tooth shorter than those either side, widely spaced petals

Recording advice

Photograph of flowers and leaves

Habitat

Dry places, old walls, banks.

When to see it

February to May.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Fairly common throughout Britain except in northern Scotland.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 100 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Barren Strawberry
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Rosales
Family:
Rosaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
75
First record:
02/04/2009 (Nicholls, David)
Last record:
22/03/2024 (lemmon, roy)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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