Click on images to enlarge
infestation (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
creeping habit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
leaves (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of leaf with three broad leaflets (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of flower (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
close-up of mature fruit (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
young plant (Photo: Sheldon Navie)
Scientific Name
Potentilla indica (Andrews) Th. Wolf
Synonyms
Duchesnea indica (Andrews) FockeFragaria indica Andrews
Family
Rosaceae
Common Names
false strawberry, Indian strawberry, Indian mock-strawberry, mock strawberry, old-world strawberry, wild Indian strawberry, wild strawberry, yellow-flowered strawberry
Origin
Native to the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan), Afghanistan, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and south-eastern Asia (i.e. Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines).
Naturalised Distribution
Widely naturalised in the wetter parts of eastern and southern Australia (i.e. in south-eastern Queensland, eastern New South Wales, southern Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. Also naturalised on Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island.
Naturalised overseas in the USA and on La Réunion.
Notes
Indian strawberry (Potentilla indica) is regarded as a "sleeper weed" or minor environmental weed in some parts of New South Wales (e.g. in the wider Sydney and Blue Mountains region) and Victoria. It tends to grow in wetter sites and is sometimes found in conservation areas (e.g. it is present in the Irrawong Reserve in the Sydney region). Its fruit are readily dispersed by birds and it spreads laterally via creeping stems (i.e. stolons).