also: へびイチゴ
false strawberry; mock strawberry
A low-growing plant with red fruit resembling strawberries but tasteless and not eaten. Often found in fields and roadsides. The name literally means 'snake strawberry'.
A lot of mock strawberries were growing by the roadside.
The fruit of the mock strawberry is not edible.
Katakana spelling is common; usually written in kana; the reading is へびいちご.
Full kanji spelling; rare and may be read as くちなわいちご by some.
Hiragana spelling; natural for a plant name often written in kana.
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; less common than kana forms.
Mixed kanji-katakana spelling; uncommon.
Compound of 蛇 (へび, 'snake') + 苺 (いちご, 'strawberry'). The name likely comes from the plant's habitat in snake-inhabited areas or the fruit's resemblance to strawberries but inedibility, suggesting it is 'for snakes'.