Comprehensive Evaluation of Ornamental Traits and Elite Germplasm Screening in Red-Flowered Strawberry (Fragaria spp.) Accessions via the Analytic Hierarchy Process

Red-flowered strawberries possess both floral and foliage ornamental characteristics, making them highly promising as landscape groundcovers and potted ornamental plants. To establish a standardized ornamental evaluation system and screen for superior germplasm, this study used 18 strawberry accessions from China and abroad as experimental materials. Twelve core ornamental indicators were selected across three dimensions: flowering period, morphological traits, and disease resistance. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed to construct a multi-level ornamental value evaluation model. The results indicate the following weight rankings across the constraint layers: morphological traits (60.66%) > flowering period (27.71%) > disease resistance (11.63%). Among these, flower color (21.96%), plant flowering period (16.41%), corolla diameter (15.69%), and single-flower flowering duration (11.30%) were the core indicators determining ornamental value. The comprehensive score rankings showed that the accessions ‘140’, ‘Pink Panda’, ‘Summer Breeze-Cherry’, and ‘Summer Breeze-Rose’ exhibited the best overall ornamental performance. These accessions feature vibrant flower colors, a prolonged flowering period, abundant blooms, and good disease resistance. ‘Frisan’ and ‘246’ had the lowest composite scores, exhibiting significant shortcomings in ornamental traits. The AHP-based evaluation system established in this study provides a quantitative tool for ornamental trait assessment in red-flowered strawberries. The four elite accessions identifed using this system—‘140’, ‘Pink Panda’, ‘Summer Breeze-Cherry’, and ‘Summer Breeze-Rose’—can serve as priority candidates for protected landscape applications and container gardening in subtropical southern China.