Thursday, June 3, 2010

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm....

We have these things growing outside by our power meter. They come back year after year and I thought they were some kind of weed, but their leaves look awfully like miniature strawberries. The fruit also looks like them with a few exceptions.
The flowers are yellow.
And where the seeds would be are little red nodules.

Any idea what they are?

18 comments:

  1. I think they're wild strawberries. I found some in my garden last year and enquired on my blog and that was the consensus. If you google them, you can see examples with the yellow flowers. :-)

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  2. They look to me just like wild strawberries that grow all over our yard. The berries don't have much flavor and their texture is kind of woody. I tasted the biggest one I could find in my dad's yard and the flavor was almost like a weak watermelon.

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  3. They look like wild strawberries. My neighbor has them and they try to sneak through the fence in to my herb garden. I will check when it is light out and not raining to see if the flowers are yellow.

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  4. Looks like a wood strawberry to me.

    http://tinyurl.com/2u3koer

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  5. I have those at my house too!!! I have no idea what they are my first thought was strawberries too.

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  6. They are barren strawberries. The berries don't have any taste (my husband ill-advisedly tried one) and they are kind of weedy here in VA.

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  7. Very cool, everyone! Thanks.

    They've just thrown me for a loop for years and never thought much about them until I started growing (attempting to, anyway)strawberries this year.

    Don't think I'm man enough to try them, however. I'll take y'all's words for it.

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  8. I concur with Gran...I don't they are of the tasty sort.

    They sure look pretty though!

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  9. I have tons of those, and they taste like crap!

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  10. Perhaps "Indian Strawberry, Mock Strawberry Duchesnea indica" http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2018/ ?

    I have something similar here in CO, I thought at first they were strawberries but they have a yellow flower and don't produce any berries at all- they just seem to act like the rest of my weeds.

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  11. Here's a link from "The Georgia Gardener." According to him, they are Mock Strawberries.

    http://www.walterreeves.com/qa_display.phtml?qaID=3378

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  12. Thanks, bc. I was calling them "Imposters" around the house. Looks like I wasn't too far off.

    Excellent link!

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  13. I second Katy's comment, I have them all along my fenceline here in VA, I tried them but they don't taste like much

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  14. Interesting. Too bad the tasty variety don't grow wild like that!

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  15. This post is filed away in the mental category of "you learn something new every day."

    Interesting!

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  16. They sure look good! Maybe hubby will taste test first :-)

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  17. I am sure you know what they are by now, but I got a load from my mother in Wales last year as they keep growing on her front patch year after year. They are wild alpine strawberries and are bursting with flavour, not like your usual strawberry. But now I stop as I just noted your flowers are yellow, whereas mine are pink. Maybe these are not the edible kind. Sorry.

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