top of page

Beach Strawberry

Fragaria chiloensis

The beach strawberry is a low-lying herbaceous evergreen growing only 15 to 30 centimeters in height. The beach strawberry closely resembles the common garden strawberry plant with leaves growing from the long, running stems. The glossy, dark green leaves are composed of three, toothed leaflets about 5 cm long. The white flowers have five spread out petals. The large, bright red berry is covered in tiny seeds on the outside and spongy white on the inside.



Basic Information

  • Member of the Rosaceae, or rose, family

  • Evergreen perennial herb

  • There are four recognized subspecies:

    • Fragaria chiloensis ssp. chiloensis — native Argentina and Chile

    • Fragaria chiloensis ssp. lucida — native to the coast of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California

    • Fragaria chiloensis ssp. pacifica — native to the coast of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California

    • Fragaria chiloensis ssp. sandwicensis — found in Hawaii; called Ōhelo papa by Native Hawaiians

Habitat

  • Native to the Pacific coast of North America, Argentina, and Chile and also Hawaii

    • In California, it is found along the immediate coast from San Luis Obispo County north

  • Found growing on ocean beaches, dunes, and coastal grasslands


Ecological Role

  • Birds eat the fruit, spreading the seeds


Reproduction

  • Blooms in from April to June


Alternative Names

  • Beach strawberry, chilean strawberry, coastal strawberry, sand strawberry, pacific beach strawberry


Historical Uses

  • Many native peoples ate the berry, raw or as a jam

  • The Quileute used a poultice of the chewed leaves on burns

  • The Salish used the dried leaves to make tea

  • The Kashaya Pomo used the berry ceremonially in the flower dance at the Strawberry Festival. The strawberries could only be eaten after the strawberries were blessed


Additional Information

  • The beach strawberry is one of the two species of wild strawberries that were hybridized to create the modern strawberry

  • F. chiloensis was likely dispersed via migratory birds from the Pacific coast of North America to Hawaii, Argentina, and Chile

bottom of page