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iNaturalist — CC, credited & licensed per image
Pictured: Fragaria vesca — the species. This subspecies isn’t separately illustrated.
Rosaceae family

California Strawberry (subsp. californica) Fragaria vesca subsp. californica subspecies

Native Specialist-bee host

California Strawberry (subsp. californica) is a perennial wildflower native to the lower 48 states. A host for pollen-specialist native bees.

More about this plant

Fragaria vesca, commonly called the woodland strawberry, Alpine strawberry, wild strawberry, Carpathian strawberry or European strawberry, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the rose family that grows naturally throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere, and that produces edible fruits. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 9 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0) — Foliage
Lifespan
Perennial
Foliage
Broadleaf
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~81 caterpillar species

Fragaria supports ~81 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a strong genus.

Recorded feeding on Fragaria in North America, including:

Abagrotis alternata · Greater Red Dart Abagrotis trigona · owlet moth Achyra rantalis · Garden Webworm Moth Acleris comariana · leafroller moth Acleris fragariana · leafroller moth Acleris keiferi · leafroller moth
+ 8 more species →
Acrolophus arcanella Acrolophus plumifrontella · Eastern Grass-Tubeworm Moth Acronicta oblinita · Smeared Dagger Moth Actebia fennica · owlet moth Agrotis gladiaria · Swordsman Dart Agrotis ipsilon · Dark Sword-Grass Amphipoea interoceanica · Interoceanic Ear Moth Amphipyra pyramidoides · Copper Underwing
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
✦ Bees specialist-bee host

Specialist native bees depend on it.

Some native bees are pollen specialists (oligolectic) — they raise young only on pollen from particular plant genera. Fragaria is a recorded specialist-bee host, so losing it can mean losing the bee that relies on it.

Xerces pollinator conservation →
Specialist hosts from Smith et al. 2024.
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (14) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts · Smith et al. 2024 (CC BY)
[09] Functional traits — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)
[10] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[12] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[13] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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