Ground-hugging plant, fibrous, perennial root system, spreads by stolons, rhizomes. Hairy leaf stems to 6 inches long, bear a single 3 part leaf. Hairy flower stalks gives rise to a loose cluster of small, 5-petaled flowers followed by small strawberries.
Runners; leaves thin, slightly leathery, green, bluish-green or bright green, may have waxy coating; tooth at tip of middle leaflet usually shorter than adjacent teeth; plants may have male and female flowers or only 1 of them; flowers 5-petaled, white.
Habitat
Moist shady habitats, often among aspens and conifers, meadows, woodlands.
Flower Characteristics
Hairy flower stalks that are usually shorter than the leaves give rise to a loose cluster of 4 to 6 small, white, 5-petaled flowers; stamens yellow, 20 to 25; pistils numerous; 5 pointed sepals are as long or longer than the petals.
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Trailing stems root to form new plants, can form large colonies; leaves palmately compound (leaflets from center point); 3 leaflets 1 to 1-1/2 inches long, 3/4 to 1 inch wide, oval to wedge-shaped rounded at the tip end, coarsely toothed, finely hairy.
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Rounded to oblong.
Tiny seeds (achenes) attached in shallow pits on the berry (drupe) surface.