Though wild strawberry season officially begins with the first full moon of June, like most things, it arrives a month later here in Teller County. Don’t let the scientific name Fragaria Virginia — Virginia Strawberry — fool you, these commonly found wild strawberries are native to Colorado.

They form a low-growing ground cover that some consider a weed. The plants have three lobed leaves that have sawtooth edges. These hardy little plants thrive through our snowy, prolonged winters and are both drought and deer resistant. They are among the first plants to show new growth in the spring, and their tiny white flowers start to bloom in early June.

The first week of July is when plants begin to fruit, but because our growing conditions can be challenging, wild strawberry plants are shy about their fruit. Wild strawberries are tiny. They’re about the size of a Maine blueberry. They’re so small that the fruit trusses — that part of the fruit that attaches to the stem — can conceal the ripened berries that grow toward the ground as they ripen. This means that finding them takes some effort. Once the deep green trifoliated leaves begin to turn red, and red runners are observed spreading, that means the plants are fertile and it’s a good time to look for fruit.

If you’re lucky enough to find a patch on a steep slope, the ripe fruits are easy to spot from the downhill side. In a meadow, trailside or in your yard, finding wild strawberries often means getting down on hands and knees and turning the flower trusses over. Fully ripe berries range from flamingo pink to deep red, and the window between ripe and mush can pass in a single day. Often, an hour of foraging will yield a harvest so small that it would fit in a pill bottle.

So why bother? Find a cluster of blushing strawberry plants and look under the leaves until you find a red fruit. Once you taste a wild strawberry, you’re likely to be hooked. The flavor contained in that tiny berry is explosive in its intensity. No commercially grown strawberry comes anywhere close to its flavor.

Though the plants fruit continuously during the season, the season is short. By the end of July, it’s essentially over. These little gems freeze well, so seasoned wild strawberry hunters will forage daily and freeze what they collect to gather enough berries for an unforgettable shortcake, sundae or jar of jam. It’s a hobby that can easily become an obsession.

What’s also exciting about these delectable gifts from nature is they are easy to transplant and propagate. Once plants have finished fruiting, new plants at the ends of the red runners will begin to take root. These plants can be moved to a new location if desired. The new leaves of these young plants have been used as folk medicine for centuries. Rich in vitamin C, trace minerals and antioxidants, teas and tinctures made from young strawberry leaves are used to treat a variety of ailments from digestive issues to high blood pressure and heart disease. Though proof of the efficacy in these matters is anecdotal at best, strawberry leaf tea is delicious and free to those who forage.

Beware of the mock strawberry. These plants look remarkably similar to wild strawberries, but they are toxic. Not the kind of toxic that is likely to kill you but with a high likelihood of making you very sick. Thankfully, they are not nearly as prevalent as the edible variety, but with a keen eye, they are easy to distinguish. Their leaves are slightly rounder than that of a wild strawberry, their flowers are yellow, not white, and they proudly flaunt their fruit. The berries are bright red and grow upright. They resemble a lollipop.

Remember, edible wild strawberries are shy about their fruit, so a plant flaunting the fruit is likely the berry you don’t want to pick. Another distinction is that the seeds on the edible berries are a tobacco color, false strawberries’ seeds are covered by red flesh. A good rule of thumb is if the berries look a little too perfect and showy, pass them up. As they say, if looks too good to be true, it probably is.