European Woodland Strawberry
Fragaria vesca
Found in fields, disturbed areas, yards. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
—
Not native
Not native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 65%
- Height
- 3–9 inches
- Spread
- 9 inches–1 foot
- Light
- Part shade, Shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 6 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
70CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Fragaria
- Abagrotis alternataGreater Red Dart, Mottled Grey Cutworm
- Achyra rantalisGarden Webworm Moth
- Acrolophus arcanellaGrass Tubeworm Moth
- Acrolophus plumifrontellaEastern Grass Tubeworm
- Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
- Agrotis gladiariaSwordsman Dart, Clay-Backed Cut-Worm
- Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
- Amphipyra pyramidoidesMiranda Underwing, Copper Underwing, Copper Amphipyra
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Ancylis floridanaStrawberry Leafroller
Show all 70
- Ancylis muricanaRed-Headed Ancylis
- Apantesis naisNais Tiger Moth
- Archips purpuranaOmnivorous Leafroller Moth
- Biston betulariaSalt-and-Pepper Geometer, Cleft-Headed Looper
- Celypha nr.Celypha Moth
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Choristoneura obsoletanaObsolete Leafroller
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Clepsis peritanaGarden Tortrix
- Clepsis persicanaWhite Triangle Tortrix
- Coelostathma discopunctanaThe Batman Moth
- Diaphania hyalinataMelonworm Moth
- Dichomeris juncidellaOrange-Dotted Dichomeris
- Dysstroma citrataDark Marbled Carpet
- Dysstroma truncataMarbled Carpet
- Eucirroedia pampinaScalloped Sallow
- Eueretagrotis attentusAttentive Dart
- Eueretagrotis perattentusTwo-Spot Dart
- Eupsilia morrisoniMorrison's Sallow
- Eupsilia tristigmataThree-Spotted Sallow, Brown Fruitworm
- Euxoa detersaRubbed Dart, Sandhill Cutworm
- Euxoa messoriaReaper Dart, Darksided Cutworm, Dark-Sided Cutworm
- Feltia herilisMaster's Dart
- Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
- Feltia subgothicaSubgothic Dart
- Geina tenuidactylaHimmelman's Plume Moth
- Haploa colonaColona Moth
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Heliothis phloxiphagaSpotted Straw Sun Moth, Darker Spotted Straw Moth
- Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
- Herpetogramma thestealisZigzag Herpetogramma, Subtle-Feathered Grass Moth
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Lacanobia subjunctaSpeckled Arches, Subdues Arches, Harnessed Mamestra, Speckled Cutworm Moth, Grand Arches?(incorrectly)
- Lacinipolia loreaBridled Arches, Bridle Groundcat
- Lobocleta ossulariaDrab Brown Wave
- Malacosoma americanaEastern Tent Caterpillar
- Melanchra adjunctaHitched Arches
- Melanchra pictaPainted Arches, Zebra Caterpillar Moth
- Monochroa absconditellaStrawberry Crown Miner
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Nematocampa resistariaFilament Bearer, Horned Spanworm Moth
- Nephelodes miniansBronzed Cutworm
- Olethreutes olivaceanaOlivaceous Olethreutes
- Olethreutes permundanaRaspberry Leafroller
- Orthosia hibisciSpeckled Green Fruitworm Moth, Speckled Green Quaker
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
- Polia purpurissataPurple Arches
- Proxenus mirandaMiranda Moth, Glistening Rustic
- Pyrgus centaureaeGrizzled Skipper
- Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
- Pyrrhia exprimensPurple-Lined Sallow, Purple-Lined Sun Moth
- Spaelotis clandestinaClandestine Dart, W-Marked Cutworm
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Xanthotype sospetaCrocus Geometer
- Xestia smithiiSmith's Dart
- Xenotemna pallorana
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Fragaria
- Andrena melanochroa
14BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Fragaria
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
- Calcarius lapponicusLapland Longspur
- Catharus fuscescensVeery
- Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
- Cyanocitta stelleriSteller's Jay
- Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
- Euphagus cyanocephalusBrewer's Blackbird
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
- Melanerpes erythrocephalusRed-headed Woodpecker
- Melozone crissalisCalifornia Towhee
Show all 14
- Pheucticus melanocephalusBlack-headed Grosbeak
- Pinicola enucleatorPine Grosbeak
- Turdus migratoriusAmerican Robin
- Tyrannus tyrannusEastern Kingbird
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5–9
- Flower color
- White
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Hardiness · “Zones 5–9” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “3–9 inches” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Part shade; Shade” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Moist; Wet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
- Spread · “9 inches–1 foot” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Also known as
European Woodland Straw Berry; Woodland Straw Berry; Woodland Strawberry
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition
- USDA PLANTS
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications