Fragaria chiloensis subsp. lucida (L.) Mill. (Vilm.) Staudt
coastal strawberry (beach strawberry)
Rosaceae (Rose family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

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Map

E-Flora BC Static Map

Distribution of Fragaria chiloensis subsp. lucida
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Species Information

General:
Perennial herb from a fibrous root and short, thick rhizome, with short, leafless runners; stems trailing, rooting at the nodes; runners, leaf stalks and flower shoots silky-long-hairy and reddish.
Leaves:
Basal in rosettes, palmately compound, on stalks 4-20 cm long; leaflets 3, egg-shaped, short-stalked, 1.5-4 cm long, thick, leathery, the lower surface strongly net-veined, pale and somewhat hairy, the upper surface green, smooth and wrinkled, the margins coarsely toothed with the terminal tooth shorter than its neighbours.
Flowers:
Inflorescence an open cluster of 5 to 15 (20) stalked flowers atop axillary, leafless shoots 3-15 cm long, shorter than to slightly exceeding the leaves; corollas white, 2-4 cm across, the petals 5, egg-shaped to round, 8-16 mm long; calyces silky-hairy, 5-lobed, the lobes (sepals) lanceolate, 6-10 mm long, alternating with elliptic bractlets that are almost as long as the sepals; ovaries superior; stamens about 20.
Fruits:
Strawberries, hemispheric, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, hairy, covered with achenes; achenes about 2 mm long, slightly immersed in the fleshy receptacle.
Notes:
The garden strawberry, Fragaria x ananassa Duchesne (a complex group of hybrids involving F. chiloensis and F. virginiana) is sometimes found as a garden escape in SW BC. Plants intermediate to F. chiloensis or F. virginiana have been called F. crinita Rydb. Two sympatric subspecies occur in BC:

1. Hairs on stems and leaf-stalks appressed.............. ssp. lucida (Vilm.) Staudt

1. Hairs on stems and leaf-stalks spreading.................... ssp. pacifica Staudt

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat and Range

Dry to mesic sand dunes and rocky coastal bluffs, just above high tide, in the lowland zone; frequent in coastal BC; N to AK and S to CA; disjunct to South America.

SourceThe Illustrated Flora of British Columbia