Duchesnea indica

Evergreen perennial groundcover reaching 0.1 m tall and spreading 1 m wide at a fast rate. Hardy to UK zone 6. In leaf year-round, flowering May to October with seeds ripening July to October. Hermaphroditic and self-fertile, pollinated by insects. Tolerates light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils with good drainage. Grows in mildly acid to basic pH and prefers moist conditions. Thrives in semi-shade or full sun.

Description

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 10 cm high and spreads 1.8 m wide. It is silky and has soft hairs. It has a rootstock that lasts from year to year and puts up slender runners. It has runners which root at the nodes and the tips forming new rings of leaves. The leaves are dark green and have 3 leaflets. The leaves have leaflets which are oval and wedge shaped at the base. They have coarse teeth. They are rounded at the tip. The end leaflet is 1-3 cm long and 0.7-2.5 cm wide. The side leaflets are slightly smaller. The flowers occur singly. The sepals are triangle shaped and 5-10 mm long. The petals are narrowly oval and 5 mm long. The flowers are yellow. The fruit are dry. They spread over a red, swollen, pulpy receptacle. The fruit are 2 cm long. See Potentilla indica - this covers some varieties.

Edible Uses

The fruit is eaten raw but is dry and insipid — certainly tasteless, though not literally dry. Some describe a flavour vaguely resembling watermelon. It contains approximately 3.4% sugar, 1.5% protein, and 1.6% ash, with a vitamin C content of 6.3mg per 100ml of juice. The fruit is about 10mm in diameter with the appearance and texture of a strawberry. A 2.5m² clump yields around 150g of fruit annually. Leaves can also be eaten cooked.

Traditional Uses

The small fruit are edible. They are eaten raw. The young leaves are eaten in salads. The root and lower parts of the stem are eaten as betel nut.

Medicinal Uses

The whole plant is anticoagulant, antiseptic, depurative, and febrifuge. It can be used in decoction or the fresh leaves can be crushed and applied externally as a poultice. Uses include treatment of boils and abscesses, weeping eczema, ringworm, stomatitis, laryngitis, acute tonsillitis, snake and insect bites, and traumatic injuries. A decoction of the leaves treats swellings, an infusion of the flowers is used to activate blood circulation, the fruit is used to treat skin diseases, and a decoction of the whole plant is applied as a poultice for abscesses, boils, and burns.

Distribution

It suits warm temperate places. It grows in moist shaded places. It grows in wetlands. It is often near river banks and grows in Assam up to 2,000 m above sea level. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 1,800 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 6-11. Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens. In Sichuan.

Where It Grows

Afghanistan, Asia, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Hawaii, Himalayas*, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lord Howe Island, Laos, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, North America, Northeastern India, Pacific, Pakistan, SE Asia, Sikkim, Slovenia, South America, Tibet, Uruguay, USA, Vietnam,

Cultivation

It can be grown from seed or division of runners.

Propagation

Sow seed in spring in a sunny position in a greenhouse. Germination usually takes place within 1–6 weeks or more at 15°C, and a period of cold stratification may speed this up. Prick seedlings out into individual pots when large enough to handle and plant out during summer. Runners can be divided in spring or late summer and planted directly into permanent positions very easily.

Other Uses

A good ground cover plant that spreads quickly by runners, though it is rather bare in winter and should not be grown near small plants as it will overwhelm them. It is well suited as a cover for bulbous plants. It is also used as a perennial groundcover in zone 2 firebreaks — the US government's system of fire-resistant planting zones surrounding buildings — where low-growing plants provide minimal fuel.

Other Information

It is sold in local markets in China. The fruit are especially eaten by children.

Notes

There are 6 Duchesnea species. Chemical composition: emodin = 0.1%; ash = 9.3%. Rich in lime. Contains chrysophonic acid, phytosterol, sugars, and volatile oil.

Nutrition

Synonyms

Also Known As

Baemttalgi, Bangros, Bhi-kafal, Bhium-kaphal, Bhui aiselu, Bhui kafal, Bhusyai kafla, Bunmala, Bu shi du za, Dau dat, Dhartimian, Dihongpao, Eki tangkin, Falsa frutilla, Fresa silvestre, Frutilla insulsa, Frutilla silvestre, Garukhisi, He shang tou cao, Indijski jagodnjak, Jalinkhumthera, Jangali shatawari, Jongli strawberry, Kaphliya, Kikoloh mukbursa, Kiphaliya, Likhodaphrushi, Makbursa, Mayako, Nenye pepror, Pungbang, Pu-tshu-la-gong, Shemei, Snake berry, Soh shan, Viepakhe-hamang, Zmakey toot

References (66)

• Agarwal, R. & Chandra, V., 2019, Diversity of wild edible plants in the Mandal-Chopta forest, Uttarakhand. Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies 2019; 7(1): 89-92
• Altschul, S.V.R., 1973, Drugs and Foods from Little-known Plants. Notes in Harvard University Herbaria. Harvard Univ. Press. Massachusetts. no. 1435
• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 186
• Amin, M., et al, 2023, Edible wild plant species used by different linguistic groups of Kohistan Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 19:6 p 9
• Awan, M. R., et al, 2011, Studies on traditional knowledge of economically important plants of Kaghan Valley, Mansehra District, Pakistan. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research Vol. 5(16), pp. 3958-3967

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