Wild strawberries (Fragaria vesca)are tiny blood red spots in the undergrowth. They were growing in large numbers forming polka dot carpets in the woodlands around Agatha Christie’s summer home along the banks of the river Dart.
Wild strawberries have glossy trefoil shaped leaves which have toothed edges. The fruits are tiny and bright red. The wild strawberry is part of a famous William Morris textile design called the ‘strawberry thief.’
The design shows thrushes stealing wild strawberries from his garden.
A great memory of mine is of a fantastic field we would visit on a summer Sunday afternoon with my grandparents. It was possible to lie in the field with flowers above you with crops of wild strawberries below to eat. Tiny sweet bursts of flavour.
There were plenty of strawberries in this Devon wood , all that was needed was some clotted cream and maybe a scone !!! ( it was Devon..)
NATURE TABLE EXPLORER 