Habitat of wild diploid strawberry plants in Japan.

Knowledge of the natural habitat of wild strawberry plants is necessary to monitor the natural situation of wild strawberry plants in Japan. A database of natural habitats of three Japanese wild diploid species - Fragaria iinumae, F. nipponica and F. vesca - was made using dried plant specimens which were stored at 18 herbaria of Japanese universities, botanic gardens, and museums. The dried plant specimens for which harvest locations had been recorded were adopted for the database. The numbers of dried plant specimens were 513 F. iinumae, 622 F. nipponica, and 42 F. vesca. The habitats of F. iinumae plants were along the Sea of Japan, north from approximately 35°23' (Mt. Daisen in Tottori Prefecture), and in high elevation areas from 900 m to 2500 m on Honshu and 200-1200 m on Hokkaido Island. The habitats of F. nipponica plants were southeast lowland areas of Hokkaido, a high elevation area (900-2800 m) near Mt. Fuji on Honshu, and the top of the Mt. Miyanouradake on Yakushima Island. The F. vesca habitat was an area southwest of Sapporo on Hokkaido Island.