Fragaria (genus)

Genus containing around 20 species of of low-growing, flowering, fruit plants native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere but widely cultivated in the Southern Hemisphere as well. The plant has a fibrous root system and a crown from which arise basal leaves. The leaves are compound, with three leaflets, saw-toothed and hairy. The flowers, generally white, rarely reddish, are borne in small clusters on slender stalks arising, like the surface-creeping stems, from the axils of the leaves. The fruit is not a true berry, but rather a fleshy, edible receptacle for tiny seeds.