duchensa indica

the color red usually attracts attention in nature...sometimes it's good...gala apples for instance...sometimes it's not...coral snakes say...there's red underneath the stand of jerusalem artichokes in the top photo...attention grabbing because of the color and because...usually...nothing much grows underneath jerusalem artichokes in a colony phalanx...usually the only thing there is mosquitoes...not out back however...red fruit...leaves in sets of three...wild strawberries? ( they would have to be wild...i never planted anything of the sort )...never much of a fan, i tried one anyway...the same sort of texture and seediness of a strawberry but virtually no flavor...something of a spitter...and, frankly, the fruit is standing upright on the end of the stems while all the strawberries i've ever seen hang down from them...so...first stop "food plants of the world: an illustrated guide" by ben-eric van wyk...nothing much of anything there...certainly not this plant...the :eat the weeds" website had the answer with the taxonomy in the header or potentilla indica...or false strawberry ...or mock strawberry...or indian strawberry...they are edible if bland and the leaves can be used in salads or cooked as a green..like lamb's quarters it is a native and so it can stay as long as it doesn't become a problem...anything that can live with ( and under ) jerusalem artichokes ( another native...co-evolution maybe? )has to be a bit invasive...even lemon balm can't pull that trick off...more as it comes up.