She Mei

She Mei is the whole plant of Duchesnea indica (Andrews) Focke (Rosaceae; also placed in Potentilla indica), the mock or Indian strawberry, a low, stoloniferous perennial herb of meadows, lawns, forest edges, and roadsides across China and much of temperate and subtropical Asia, naturalized worldwide. Slender, long, hairy runners root at the nodes to form mats. Leaves are alternate, long-petioled, palmately trifoliate, with obovate to rhombic, coarsely crenate-serrate leaflets 1.5–4 cm long. Solitary, axillary flowers borne on long peduncles have five bright yellow petals (distinguishing it from true Fragaria, which is white-flowered) and a leafy, three-toothed epicalyx larger than the calyx. The aggregate fruit is a globose, bright red, dry-fleshy receptacle 1–2 cm across studded with many small achenes; bland and insipid, not toxic. Plants are collected in summer or autumn, washed, and dried. Used to clear heat, resolve toxin, and cool blood.