- Region
- North America
- Origin
- Open fields and woodland edges across almost all of North America
- Traditions
- Cherokee medicine, Haudenosaunee medicine
North America · Food · № 937
Fragaria virginiana
Food · North America
Virginia strawberry
Fragaria virginiana
A wild strawberry with small, very tasty fruits. Its cross with the Chilean strawberry gave rise to the garden strawberry in eighteenth-century Europe.
Safety notes
Can cause itching or hives in sensitive people. Traditional use is no proof of effect; consult a doctor or pharmacist if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, take medication or have a medical condition.
Cautions by tradition (1)
- Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) medicine: Can cause itching or hives in sensitive people.
Preparation
The berries mashed with water and maple syrup as a drink; the leaves as a tea.
Use in traditions
The Haudenosaunee call the strawberry the leader of the berries, because it ripens first, and 'the big medicine', because it is shaped like a heart. At the Strawberry Ceremony in June the Creator is thanked and strawberry juice is drunk together. In one version of the creation story the first strawberries grew from the grave of the twins' mother.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) medicine
Attributed effects
Strawberry juice is shared at the Strawberry Ceremony to thank the Creator; the strawberry is called 'the big medicine'.
Preparation and amount
Mash the berries, dilute with water and maple syrup and drink together; the leaves as a tea.
Caution: Can cause itching or hives in sensitive people.
- Ways to prepare herbs
- Tea (infusion)Syrup, honey and oxymel