Texas Gardening: Texas Native Plant Pictures by color ( White ), 1 by htop

htop wrote:
Wild Strawberry, Virginia Strawberry, Scarlet Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), Rosaceae Family, Texas native, perennial, blooms late Spring through mid-summer.

Virginia strawberry or wild strawberry is a groundcover that emerges from a fibrous, perennial root system. The leaf petioles, which can be up to 6 inches long, each bear a single trifoliate deep green serrated leaf. The leaflets are roundish to oblong. The flower stalk has a loose cluster of small, five-petaled flowers which are followed by very sweet wild strawberries. The wild strawberries are much smaller than "store bought" ones, 90 per cent of which are hybrids developed from this native species and a South American strawberry. The other 10 percent of cultivated starwberries have Coastal Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) as the source parent. Virginia strawberry can be distinguished from the Woodland Strawberry (F. vesca) whose sepals point backwards away from the fruit and whose leaves are a lighter green.. The Virginia strawberry (F. virginiana) reproduces itself by seeds and by runners. The Woodland Strawberry (F. vesca) does not produce runners. It is found in fields open slopes and woodland edges. It can grow in a variety of soils, but likes sandy soils best (very acidic to slightly alkaline). If you want more fruit, pinch off the runners. The leaves may be steeped in boiling water to make tea. Like the fruits, the leaves are high in vitamin C. The plants need watered every 2 weeks if experiencing a drought. Virginia Strawberry can withstand frosts and is evergreen in my Zone 8b. It does well as a cultivated groundcover given dappled sun, full sun or morniing sun. Fruit production is best when the plants are given full sun. It may be container grown.

For more information see the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/31464/index.html

The bloom is similar to the F. vesca bloom shown above. Here is a ripening fruit that shows the sepals encasing the fruit rather than flaring back away from it.