Wild Strawberries

Fragaria vesca

Alpine Strawberry Common Strawberry Mountain Strawberry Pineapple Strawberry Wild Strawberries Wood Strawberry Woodland Strawberry Parts used Uses Habitat and cultivation Constituents Applications

The berries, leaves, and root of the wild or "alpine" strawberry have all been used medicinally in the past. The root was once a popular household remedy for diarrhea, and the stalks were used for wounds. The berries were considered cooling; according to Gerard, they "quench thirst, cooleth heate of the stomicke and inflammation of the liver." However, eating them in winter or on a "cold stomicke" was thought to risk an increase in phlegmatic humor and digestive upsets.

During the carefree days of summer, hikers frequently pause on slopes to taste wild strawberries. The tiny berries give off a delicate aroma that is subtly reminiscent of roses. Apothecaries and herbalists had a high regard for the wild strawberry's medicinal properties and recommended the plant for many complaints. One 17th-century herbalist noted: "The berries cool the liver, blood, and spleen, or a hot choleric stomach. They refresh and comfort fainting spirits and quench the thirst. They are good for inflammations, but it is best to refrain from them in a fever, lest they putrefy in the stomach and increase the fits." The 18th-century botanist Carolus Linnaeus, who was also a physician, ate large quantities of the berries to keep himself free of gout-a pleasant prescription, but its effectiveness has not been proved. In 2Oth-century folk medicine strawberry tea has served as a tonic. The tea has a slightly astringent taste, owing to the presence of tannin, which also accounts for the use of the tea as a remedy for diarrhea and as a gargle for sore throat. Herbalists also prescribe the fresh fruit as a laxative.

PARTS USED

Leaves, fruit, root.

USES

Wild strawberry leaves are mildly astringent and diuretic. The plant is rarely used medicinally today, but it can be taken to treat diarrhea and dysentery. The leaves were also used as a gargle for sore throats, and in a lotion for minor burns and scrapes. In Europe, the fruit is considered to have cooling and diuretic properties, and has been prescribed as part of a diet in cases of tuberculosis, gout, arthritis, and rheumatism.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Wild strawberry is native to Europe and temperate regions of Asia. The leaves and fruit are gathered in early summer.

CONSTITUENTS

Wild strawberries contains tannins, mucilage, sugars, fruit acids, salicylates, minerals, vitamins B, C, E.

APPLICATIONS

LEAVES:

INFUSION - Take for diarrhea, for gastric inflammations and infections, and for jaundice; use also as an appetite stimulant. Combine with meadowsweet and St. John's wort for mild arthritic pains, or with celery seed for gout.

FRUIT:

FRESH - Eat strawberries for gastritis and as a liver tonic: they are good during convalescence after hepatitis. Also useful in feverish conditions, they are both cooling and unlikely to cause fermentation in the stomach.

POULTICE - Apply crushed berries to areas of sunburn or other skin inflammations.

TONIC WINE - Steep the berries in wine to make a traditional remedy for "reviving the spirits and making the hart merrie."