Beach Strawberry, Chilean Strawberry, Coastal Strawberry, Pacific Beach Strawberry
Fragaria chiloensis ssp. pacifica
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Beach strawberry as seen at left on the beach at Bayview Jetty County Park on the northern Oregon coast......May 22, 2009. The image at right shows beach strawberry on the foredune at Bayocean Peninnusla, Tillamook Bay, OR.....June 20, 2024.
Characteristics:
Beach strawberry is an attractive perennial suitable for coastal as well as
inland gardens. The stolons are reddish-purple in color and covered with thick,
silky hairs. The leaves are largely basal and are 3-10 cm long, shiny green
above and hairy and pale below. The leaves are ternate compound with 3 petiolate
leaflets. The leaflets are obovate to cuneate-obovate in shape and coarsely-toothed
on the margins. The petioles are hairy, reddish-purple, and from 4-10 cm long.
The cymes are few-flowered with 5-15 flowers. The calyx is very silky with
lanceolate sepals up to 10 mm long. The 5 petals are white, 12-16 mm long, and
obovate-orbicular in shape. The fruit is fleshy and at least 1.5 cm wide.
Importance:
It is one of the parent plants of many of the cultivated varieties of strawberries.
The fruits are highly prized, and may be eaten raw or cooked in cobblers or
jams. A tea made of the leaves is high in Vitamin C. Various small animals eat
the berries. With its dark, shiny green leaflets, it makes an attractive ground
cover.
Habitat:
Beach strawberry is found along the coast on sandy bluffs and dry plains.
Range:
Beach strawberry may be found along the coast from Puget Sound and the Strait
of Juan de Fuca south to South America, and in the Hawaiian Islands.
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Beach strawberry as seen on the beach at Seaside, OR..............May 21, 2009.
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Early-blooming beach strawberries as seen on the beach side of Bay Ocean Spit, Tillamook County, Oregon..........February 17, 2015. The photo at right was taken at the same location on April 7, 2015.
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Beach strawberry as seen (left) on the beach at Seaside, OR..............May 21, 2009. The photo at right shows an early-blooming beach strawberry as seen
on the beach side of Bay Ocean Spit, Tillamook County, Oregon..........February 8,, 2016. Note the ant on the flower. A potential early pollinator?
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Beach strawberry blooming on dunes at Bay Ocean Spit, Tillamook County, Oregon..........May 17, 2023. Note the spreading hairs onte pedicels which indicates this is ssp. pacifica. Ssp. lucida has either glabrous or appressed, ascending hairs on the pedicels and petioles.
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Basal leaves of beach strawberry as seen at left at the upper end of the beach at Nehalem Bay State Park, northern Oregon Coast.........January 1, 2016.
The photo at right shows the leaves of beach strawberry as seen at Sunset Beach State Park......February 11, 2022.
Paul Slichter