This kind of strawberry is said to be snake food, so never pick or eat it to avoid poisoning.

When we were kids playing outdoors, we all loved picking bright wild berries. Most of us knew which ones tasted good and which ones looked nice but were not edible. Among them was a wild berry that looked very much like a strawberry. I do not know if any of you have ever picked it. Look at how it looks, does it not look very much like a strawberry? But you had better not eat it. This is the mock strawberry, said to be snake food, and it is poisonous.

Mock strawberry, also called snake bubble, and sometimes called wild strawberry by some people, but it is not the same as the true wild strawberry. It has no fragrance when smelled, and it does not taste sweet and sour. The taste is not very good, and it is a bit hard, with a bright red color. Eating too many can cause symptoms of poisoning, such as nausea and dizziness.

So when we were kids, we did not dare to eat them. The old people all said that wherever there is mock strawberry, there will be a venomous snake resting underneath, and saliva and such will stick to the fruit, so eating it will cause poisoning. Therefore, when picking them, we were especially careful, afraid that a snake might suddenly rush out and bite. Still, picking some and stringing them together made a pretty good ornament.

Now many people like to go out into the wild to play and pick wild strawberries. Let us share some knowledge about wild strawberries.

The truly edible wild strawberry is the kind in the picture below. It has a fragrance when smelled, is a little bigger than the mock strawberry, oval-shaped, and its color is not red but on the orange side. The small bumps on its surface are smooth, not prickly like those of the mock strawberry. It tastes sweet and sour, and was the best wild treat of many people's childhood.

Actually, saying that mock strawberry is poisonous is not entirely without reason. If you look it up, mock strawberry is mildly toxic and can be used as medicine. It has the effects of clearing heat, cooling the blood, reducing swelling, and removing toxins. The whole plant can be used as medicine, and it is even said to fight cancer. It is said that after a snake bite, mock strawberry can be used for treatment, but if you are going to eat it, you had better eat only a few, and not too many.