Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » National Clonal Germplasm Repository » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #330213

Title: Seeking the northern boundary of the Cascade strawberry

Author
item Hummer, Kim
item DAVIS, THOMAS - University Of New Hampshire

Submitted to: Acta Horticulturae
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2016
Publication Date: 4/20/2017
Citation: Hummer, K.E., Davis, T. 2017. Seeking the northern boundary of the Cascade strawberry. Acta Horticulturae. 1156:111-116. doi: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2017.1156.15.

Interpretive Summary: The Cascade strawberry a native strawberry species with 10 sets of chromosomes, was described from the Oregon Cascade Mountains in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Its range of distribution was described as occurring near Mt. Hood, the highest peak in the northern Oregon Cascades, ranging in a band of higher elevation southwards to near Crater Lake in Southern Oregon. The objective of this study was to examine in more detail, the distribution of this species at the northern end of its range. During summer and fall 2015, four excursions were taken in the vicinity of Mt. Hood to seek the wild distribution of Fragaria species. These excursions encircled the mountain by road and hiking. The most northerly observation of the occurrence of F. cascadensis was at Lolo Pass near the junction of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and Route 18; the highest elevation occurrence was observed on Mt. Hood, 2 miles south of Timberline Lodge at 1589 m (5213’); the furthest east of the mountain was at Little John Snow Park, east of Route 35. Interestingly, the region from the mountain peak due north to the northeast, was populated with octoploid strawberries. This region included the Cooper Spur recreational area. The Cascade strawberry was not observed in that 45o sector, north to northeast of the mountain. While the wild strawberry that has 2 sets of chromosomes, F. vesca spp. bracteata was present at the PCT at Cascade Locks near the Columbia River, no species with higher chromosome numbers were observed. Further research is ongoing regarding the distribution and family tree of the Oregon strawberry species.

Technical Abstract: Fragaria cascadensis K.E. Hummer, an endemic decaploid strawberry species, was described from the Oregon Cascade Mountains in the Pacific North-western United States. Its range occurs near Mt. Hood, the highest peak in the northern Oregon Cascades, in a band of higher elevation sites southwards to near Crater Lake in Southern Oregon. The objective of this study was to examine in more detail, the distribution of this species at the northern end of its range. During summer and fall 2015, several excursions were taken in the vicinity of Mt. Hood to seek the wild distribution of Fragaria species. These excursions encircled the mountain by road and hiking. The most northerly observation of the occurrence of F. cascadensis was at Lolo Pass near the junction of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and Route 18; the highest elevation occurrence was observed on Mt. Hood, 2 miles south of Timberline Lodge at 1589 m (5213’); the furthest east of the mountain was at Little John Sno-Park, east of Route 35. Interestingly, the region from the mountain peak due north to the northeast, was populated with octoploid strawberries, Fragaria virginiana ssp. platypetala. This region included the Cooper Spur Recreational Area. The decaploid F. cascadensis was not observed in the north to northeast sector of the mountain. While the diploid F. vesca spp. bracteata (A. Heller) Staudt was present at the PCT at Cascade Locks near the Columbia River, no higher ploidy species were observed in that vicinity. Further research is ongoing regarding the distribution and phylogeny of the Cascade strawberry in Oregon.