Duchesnea indica
| Duchesnea indica | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Evergreen Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 0.3' |
| Width: | 3' |
| Speed: | Fast |
| Blooms: | Late Spring-Mid Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Medicinal Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Duchesnea indica (common name: mock strawberry)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring in a sunny position in a greenhouse. Germination usually takes place within 1 - 6 weeks or more at 15°c. A period of cold stratification may speed up germination. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
Division of runners in spring or late summer. Very easy, they can be planted out straight into their permanent positions.
Cultivation: Prefers a moist but well-drained soil in a sunny position[1]. Plants are at their best in semi-shade, though they are not too fussy[2] and can succeed in quite dense shade[3][2]. They also grow well in a rock garden[4].
Plants are hardy to about -20°c[5].
A very ornamental plant[4] but it can be invasive, spreading freely by means of runners[6]. Plants are more or less evergreen, though they can be browned by severe frosts[2]. Plants sometimes self-sow in British gardens[2].
Range: E. Asia - China, Japan, Himalayas. An occasional garden escape in Britain[7].
Habitat: Shady places in woods, grassy slopes, ravines in low mountains, all over Japan[8].
Edibility: Fruit - raw[9][10]. Dry and insipid[7]. Certainly rather tasteless, but it is not dry[K]. A flavour somewhat like a water melon according to some people, but this is possibly the product of a strained imagination[K].The fruit contains about 3.4% sugar, 1.5% protein, 1.6% ash[11]. Vitamin C is 6.3mg per 100ml of juice[11]. The fruit is about 10mm in diameter with the appearance and texture of a strawberry but very little flavour[K]. A clump 2.5m² yields about 150g of fruit annually[11].
Leaves - cooked[12].
Medicinal: The whole plant is anticoagulant, antiseptic, depurative and febrifuge[13][14]. It can be used in decoction or the fresh leaves can be crushed and applied externally as a poultice[13]. It is used in the treatment of boils and abscesses, weeping eczema, ringworm, stomatitis, laryngitis, acute tonsillitis, snake and insect bites and traumatic injuries[13].
A decoction of the leaves is used in the treatment of swellings[13][14][15].
An infusion of the flowers is used to activate the blood circulation[15].
The fruit is used to cure skin diseases[15].
A decoction of the plant is used as a poultice for abscesses, boils, burns etc[15].
Usage: A good ground cover plant, spreading quickly[16] by means of runners[2]. It is rather bare in winter though[K] and should not be grown with small plants since it will drown them out[3]. A good cover for bulbous plants[2].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
In Leaf: Evergreen
Seed Ripens: Mid Summer-Mid Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: D. fragarioides. Fragaria indica.
Links
References
- ↑ Bird, Alfred. Focus on Plants Volume 5. Thompson and Morgan, 1991.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Matthews, Victoria. The New Plantsman Volume 1. Royal Horticultural Society, 1994.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Thomas, Graham. Plants for Ground Cover. Everyman, 1990.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Phillips, Roger and Martyn Rix. Perennials - The Definitve Reference. Pan Books, 1991.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Clapham, Arthur and Tom Tootin, Edmund Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press, 1962.
- ↑ Ohwi, Jisaburo. Flora of Japan. Smithsonian Institution, 1965.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Parmar, Chiranjit. Wild Fruits of the Sub-Himalayan Region. Kalyani Publishers, 1982.
- ↑ Read, Bernard. Famine Foods Listed in the Chiu Huang Pen Ts'ao. Taipei Southern Materials Centre, 1977.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Revolutionary Health Committee of Hunan Province. A Barefoot Doctors Manual. Running Press.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Stuart, George. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei Southern Materials Centre.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Duke, James and Edward Ayensu. Medicinal Plants of China. Reference Publications, 1985.
- ↑ Napier, Elspeth. Ground Cover Plants. Cassells, 1989.