Snake Berries

When I was young, my mother would sometimes send my brother and me into the fields to pick wild strawberries.

We were always admonished to watch out for the snake berries.

Snake berries look like strawberries. The biggest difference is that strawberries grow so that the fruit hangs down, while a snake berry grows so that the fruit points up toward the sky.

Mom always said snake berries were poisonous. 

This is actually called Potentilla indica or Duchesnea indica as its scientific name. It is most often called a false strawberry or mock strawberry. I have no idea where my mother learned to call it a snake berry but apparently others do too, as I was able to find this information by typing in that name. It is also sometimes referred to as an Indian strawberry (no clue why).

This berry is not indigenous to the US and apparently was brought into the country from Asia. It's considered an exotic invasive species. It must be hardy since it is all over the place around here.

Apparently it is not poisonous but also not very tasty. Mostly it is considered a weed.

Here are resources:

https://kids.niehs.nih.gov/topics/natural-world/wildlife/plants/false-strawberry/index.htm

https://www.wildernessarena.com/food-water-shelter/food-food-water-shelter/food-procurement/edible-wild-plants/duchesnea-or-indian-strawberry