mock strawberry (Potentilla indica) observed in MD-423, Tracys Landing, MD, US
iNaturalist: aerin-doyle
Invasive Species
Mock strawberry quietly spreads through lawns, gardens, and parks near you — and knowing where it's showing up helps homeowners and land managers stay ahead of it before it crowds out native plants.
Someone in a small Maryland town near the Chesapeake Bay found and photographed a mock strawberry plant, and enough people agreed on the identification to make it an official, trustworthy record. Mock strawberry looks a lot like a real wild strawberry but its fruit is dry and tasteless. It originally came from Asia and has been spreading across North America for decades.
Key Findings
Observation achieved 'research-grade' status, meaning it was verified by multiple independent identifiers in the iNaturalist community
Location is MD-423, Tracys Landing, MD — a rural area in Anne Arundel County near the western Chesapeake Bay shoreline
Species confirmed as Potentilla indica (mock strawberry), a non-native Asian plant naturalized across much of the eastern United States
chevron_right Technical Summary
A mock strawberry plant was spotted and confirmed in Tracys Landing, Maryland, adding a verified data point to the spread of this non-native ground cover across the eastern US.
Abstract Preview
Research-grade observation of mock strawberry in MD-423, Tracys Landing, MD, US.
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
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Potentilla indica, known commonly in as false strawberry, mock strawberry, Indian strawberry, wild strawberry, is a flowering plant in the family Rosaceae, native to West Asia to India, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. It has ternate foliage and an aggregate accessory fruit, similar to true strawbe...