Almost everyone loves strawberries (unless you’re one of those unfortunate few who are allergic to them). Our store-bought strawberries are large, sometimes juicy, and taste pretty good. The modern cultivated strawberry, Fragaria x ananassa, is a hybrid of two wild species – Fragaria virginiana from North America and Fragaria chiloensis from Chile. This hybridization (first achieved in the 1750s in Brittany, France) led to the creation of the garden strawberry which became the dominant commercial variety. 

Now, imagine a much smaller strawberry, not much larger than a pea, but packed with all the concentrated flavour of the store-bought fruit. That’s our Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiensis) and also it’s close relative, the Woodland Strawberry (F. vesca). This month I will compare these two delicious fruits, and you can decide which is best in your garden. (Keep in mind, birds and squirrels also love them, so you may not get many for your own table – just saying.) 

Common Name:	Wild Strawberry	Woodland Strawberry
Scientific Name:	Fragaria virginiana	Fragaria vesca
Family:	Rosaceae (Rose family)
Alternate Common Names:	Blue-leaf Strawberry, Common Wild Strawberry, Scarlet Strawberry, Virginia Strawberry	California Strawberry, Starvling Strawberry, Wild Strawberry, Wood Strawberry
In the Garden:	Wild Strawberry is a dependable ground cover for sunny sites. The bright white flowers are found in abundance and the semi-evergreen leaves provide excellent fall color. Suitable as a no-mow lawn alternative and for erosion control.	Woodland Strawberry is a reliable ground cover for shady areas and will spread indefinitely by runners. Its charming white flowers and vibrant red berries brighten up shady corners of the garden. Great for erosion control or as a no-mow lawn alternative.
Appearance Comparison:	The two species can be distinguished by carefully observing the leaf and the fruit. On F. vesca the terminal tooth on the leaf is more or less equal in size to the side teeth but are almost always smaller on F. virginiana. As well on F. vesca the leaflets are sparsely hairy, more prominently veined with large teeth, whereas F. virginiana is more softly veined and toothed and hairier overall. Woodland Strawberry fruit tends to be oblong with the seeds raised on the surface, while Wild Strawberry fruit is more round, with seeds in shallow pits. Finally, F. vesca usually has fewer flowers than F. virginiana and these are usually positioned above the leaves, while F. virginiana flower stems are typically shorter than the leaf stems. Both species are vigorous growers, so be sure to give them room to spread.

Note of interest – Woodland Strawberry also comes in a natural white fruited variation. I have not tasted these to see if they are as good as the red ones (the birds and squirrels get them before they are even ripe in my garden), but they make an interesting plant in the shady woodland garden.  

	Wild Strawberry	Woodland Strawberry
Skill Level:	Beginner
Lifespan:	Perennial
Exposure:	Full sun to part shade	Full shade to part shade
Soil Type:	Sand, Loam, Clay
Moisture:	Moist to Mesic	Wet to Moist
Height:	5-15 cm	10-20 cm
Spread:	60+ cm  (with runners)	100 cm (with runners)
Bloom Period:	Apr, May	May, Jun
Flower Colour:	White
Showy Fruit:	Yes – edible red “berry” (actually a fruit)
Cut Flower:	No
Pests:	Seldom bothered by the pests and diseases that affect commercial strawberries
Natural Habitat:	Fields, prairies, and woodland edges	Rich, shady woodlands
Wildlife Value:	Many bees rely on the nectar and pollen, and many birds and small mammals and some turtles feed on the strawberries
USDA Hardiness Zones:	3-9	3-10

	Wild Strawberry	Woodland Strawberry
Butterfly Larvae Host Plant for:	Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus centaureae), Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)
Moth Larvae Host Plant for:	Garden Webworm (Achyra rantalis), Smeared Dagger Moth (Acronicta oblinita), Strawberry Leafroller Moth (Ancylis comptana fragariae), Red-headed Ancylis (Ancylis muricana), Omnivorous Leafroller Moth (Archips purpurana), Celypha Moth (Celypha cespitana), Blackberry Looper Moth (Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria), Common Marbled Carpet (Dysstroma truncata), Wild Strawberry Seed Borer (Grapholita angleseana), Spotted Straw (Heliothis turbatus), Green Cloverworm (Hypena scabra), Drab Brown Wave (Lobocleta ossularia), Olivaceous Olethreutes (Olethreutes olivaceana), Variegated Leafroller Moth (Platynota flavedana), Garden Tortrix (Ptycholoma peritana), Purple-lined Sallow (Pyrrhia exprimens), Clandestine Dart (Spaelotis clandestina), Sparganothis Leafroller Moth (Sparganothis sulfureana), Strawberry Crown Borer (Synanthedon bibionipennis), Tinagma obscurofasciella (no common name)

	Wild Strawberry	Woodland Strawberry
Propagation:	Germination of wild strawberry seeds is very poor and may be enhanced with 60 days of cold, moist stratification. Vegetative propagation — by separating rooted plantlets in spring or early summer, or by taking cuttings of stolon internodes — is the most effective method of multiplying plants.

Native Range: