Wildflowers of the United States

Southern Barren Strawberry, Appalachian Barren Strawberry, Small-petaled Barren Strawberry - Geum donianum

Native Status: Native

Dicot Perennial Herb Leaves:Compound

Geum donianum - Southern Barren Strawberry, Appalachian Barren Strawberry, Small-petaled Barren Strawberry.
The Barren Strawberry genus (Waldsteinia) has had a pretty confusing history of classification, and it appears that it may no longer exist, with most authorities now agreeing that it needs to be placed within Geum - Avens. Even when they were separated into Waldsteinia, there was much confusion as to whether Northern and Southern Barren Strawberry should be combined into a single species as Waldsteinia fragarioides or to separate Southern Barren Strawberry into its own genus, either as W. parviflora or as W. donianum. Finally in the 21st century, after genetic study and much discussion on the names, most (not all) authorities that care seem to agree that Waldsteinia should be combined with Geum, although with deciduous style (the rest of the Geum has a persistent style), in its own subgenus - Waldsteinia. Most publications still classify these plants in Waldsteinia, and the USDA map shown to the right combines Northern and Southern Barren Strawberry into a single genus.

Geum donianum - Southern Barren Strawberry - differs from Geum fragarioides - Northern Barren Strawberry - most obviously (if that term can be used) in the size of the flower, most easily noted by the petal size relative to the sepal size, with the petals of G. donianum being shorter than to just a bit longer than the sepals, and those of G. fragarioides being distinctly longer than the sepals. Their ranges overlap in Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. There is another species (G. lobatum) in a small area of the southern Appalachians which has deeply lobed rather than compound leaves, and one in Idaho and Montana (G. idahoensis with shallower lobes and larger flowers.

Synonym: Waldsteinia fragarioides var. parviflora, Waldsteinia parviflora.

Found in:
AL, AR, CT, GA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV, GS (This list and the USDA map show the distribution for the combined G. donianum and G. fragarioides, since they are so similar and many publications combine them.)

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Distribution of Geum donianum in the United States and Canada:

Map courtesy of The Biota of North America Program.
Map color key
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Site: Piney River Trail, Rhea County, TN Date: 2016-April-08	Photographer: Gerald C. Williamson Nikon D7000 Tamron SP 90MM f/2.8 AF Macro
The Waldsteinia subgenus (or genus if you disagree with the inclusion in Geum) has flowers with 5 yellow petals and up to 70 yellow stamens. The flowers of Southern Barren Strawberry (Geum donianum) are generally smaller than those of Northern Barren Strawberry (Geum fragarioides.)

Site: Piney River Trail, Rhea County, TN Date: 2016-April-08	Photographer: Gerald C Williamson Nikon D7000
Geum donianum - Southern Barren Strawberry - differs from Geum fragarioides - Northern Barren Strawberry - in the size of the flower, most easily noted by the petal size relative to the sepal size, with the petals of G. donianum being shorter than to just a bit longer than the sepals, and those of G. fragarioides being distinctly longer than the sepals. In this tightly cropped photo (apologies for the quality), you can see three straight styles with capitate stigmas obvious on two of them atop the carpels - there are usually 3 or 4 carpels in Geum donianum. In most Geum species, there is a distinct and obvious kink or twist in the style. With the Waldstenia species, the style is deciduous, dropping off the flattening achene after the petals have dropped off the flower. In the other Geum species the style is persistent with only the part above the kink (usually) dropping off, leaving a hooked style on the achene.
Click on the photo for a larger image
Site: Piney River Trail, Rhea County, TN Date: 2016-April-08	Photographer: Gerald C Williamson Nikon D7000
The leaf of Geum donianum is trifoliolate - three distinct leaflets (although there are reports of some leaves being deeply lobed rather than with three leaflets.) Each leaflet may be shallowly lobed. The surface of the leaf is less hairy than the rest of the plant, but is usually sparsely hairy. Geum lobatum (Lobed Barren Strawberry) has deeply lobed leaves with 3 lobes rather than 3 separate leaflets, and is found only in a small area of the southern Appalachian Mountains.
Click on the photo for a larger image
Site: Piney River Trail, Rhea County, TN Date: 2016-April-08	Photographer: Gerald C Williamson Nikon D7000
The hypanthium of Geum donianum is obcampanulate shaped - more or less bell-shaped. There are 5 green sepals. The plant is villous.
Click on the photo for a larger image

References used for identification and information:

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Geum donianum initially published on USWildflowers.com 2018-09-10; Updated 2018-09-10

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All content except USDA Plants Database map Copyright Gerald C. Williamson 2024
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Code Update 20230302