PARTRIDGEBERRY
Most of our shrubs are upright. However, there are some shrub species that are low, prostrate, trailing, and creeping. One of those species is the Partridgeberry or Partridge Berry (Mitchella repens L.).
Partridgeberry is a member of the Order Gentianales or Rubiales, the Family Rubiaceae, the Subfamily Rubioideae, and the Tribe Mitchelleae.
The generic name, Mitchella, was named for Dr. John Mitchell, the 18th Century Virginia botanist, physician, and cartographer. The specific epithet, repens, is Latin for “creeping” or “trailing”.
At different times and places, other common names (or their variations) for this plant were Bird Berry, Boxberry, Checkerberry, Chicken Berry, Cowberry, Creepchequer Berry, Creeping Chequer Berry, Deer Berry, Eyeberry, Foxberry, Heath Hen Plum, Hive Vine, Jesuit Berry, Little Apple Berry, Mitchella, Mountain Tea, Odor Berry, One Berry, Partridge Vine, Pheasant Berry, Pigeon Berry, Pigeon Plum, Pudding Plum, Running Box, Running Fox, Snakeberry, Snake Plum, Snake Vine, Squawberry, Squaw Plum, Squaw Vine, Teaberry, Turkey Berry, Twin Berry, Two-eye Berry, Two-eyed Chequer Berry, Two-eyed Plum, and Winter Clover.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTRIDGEBERRY
Perennial
Height: Its height is about 1-4 inches. Its length extends about 4-24 inches in all directions.
Stems: Its stemsare soft, slender, and woody. The young stems are red or green and have short, straight, and stiff hairs. The older stems are brown and smooth. These stemsmay branch but do not climb.
Buds: Its buds are pale green with few scales. They are located at the ends of the stems.
Leaves: Its leaves are simple, opposites, and evergreen. Each leaf is fleshy or leathery,about ½-1 inch long,about ½ inches wide,roundedor broadly ovate, shiny green above, and paler below. Their base is rounded or cordated and their tip is rounded or blunted. Its margin is entire. These leaves have white veins and a pale yellow midrib. It has ¼ inch long petioles and small stipules.White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) may eat these leaves.
Flowers: Its flowers are arranged in pairs within the leaf axils or upon the ends of the stem. Each flower is white, purple, or pink; radially symmetrical;funnel-shaped, trumpet-shaped, or tubular; and is about ¼-½ inches long. It has aunited corolla with 4 (or 3-6) spreading or recurved lobes and is fringed upon the inside. It also has a hairy calyx with 4 teeth, 4 stamens, and 1 pistil with 1 style and 4 stigmas. These paired flowers are united by their ovaries. All flowering parts are attached above the ovary.
The paired flowers, which are joined at the base,are of 2 different types (dimorphous). One type has long styles and short stamens (pin) and the other has short styles and long stamens (thrum). This is to insure cross-pollination. Both flowers within that pair must be pollinated to produce its fruit.
These flowers are fragrant. They are pollinated by Bees (Superfamily Apoidea) and by Butterflies (Suborder Rhopalocera). Flowing season is April to July.
Fruit: Its fruit is a fused, single,dry, red or white drupe orberry. These fruits were formed from their united ovaries. Each fruit is about ¼ inch in diameter and has 2 pitted“eyes”formed by the calyx. These fruitshave up to 4-8 seeds. Fruiting season is July to October. They may remain upon the stem throughout the winter.
This fruit is eaten by Northern Bobwhite Quails (Colinus virginianus L.), Ruffed Grouses (Bonasa umbellus L.), Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo L.), White-footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque), Deer Mice (P. maniculatus Wagner), Eastern Chipmunks (Tamias striatus L.), Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis Schreber), Raccoons (Procyon lotor L.), and Foxes (Tribe Vulpini). These animals help disperse the seeds.
Seeds: Its seeds are gray, wrinkled, and stony.
Roots:Its roots are fibrous. The adventitious roots form at the stems’ nodes when they are in contact with the soil. These roots can form large matted colonies.
Habitat: Its habitat consists ofthe shaded floors of dry or moist forests. They prefer acidic soils with very little leaf litter.
Range: Its range covers much of the eastern U.S. and southeastern Canada as far west as the Great Plains.Their range extends down into Central America.
Uses:
Partridgeberries had many uses. Both the Native Americans and the early European settlers used this plant.
The plant was brewed into a tea for treating insomnia.The leaves were brewed into a tea and were used as a diuretic, a diaphoretic, a tonic, or an antibiotic. The plant was also used as an astringent for dysentery and for hemorrhoids. The tea was also used to speed childbirth. A wash or poultice was made for treating swellings, cuts, hives, arthritis, and rheumatism. The roots and twigs were steamed and were used treating for muscular aches and stiff joints. The roots were brewed and were used for treating stomach-aches. The berries were used for treating fevers and diarrhea. The plant contains saponin and tannin. This plant was listed in the National Formulary (1926-47) but was not in listed the U.S. Pharmacopoeia. Although this plant had many medicinal uses, very little research was done on it.
The berries are edible but tasteless. They can be eaten raw or cooked. They can also be mixed with salads, jams, jellies, fruitcakes, and muffins. These berries were also made into a beverage.
Partridgeberries are used as ornamental plants and as Christmas holiday decorations. They are often used in shaded rock gardens and in terrariums.
REFERENCES
NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION FIELD GUIDE TO WILDFLOWERS OF NORTH AMERICA
By David M. Brandenburg
THE WOODY PLANTS OF OHIO
By E. Lucy Braun
MEDICINAL AND OTHER USES OF NORTH AMERICAN PLANTS
By Charlotte Erichsen-Brown
THE HISTORY AND FOLKLORE OF NORTH AMERICAN WILDFLOWERS
By Timothy Coffey
COMMON FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE NORTHEAST
By Donald D. Cox
WILDFLOWERS OF THE EAST
By Mabel Crittenden and Dorothy Telfer
EDIBLE WILD PLANTS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
By Merritt Lyndon Fernald and Alfred Charles Kinsey
PETERSON FIELD GUIDE TO MEDICINAL PLANTS AND HERBS
By Steven Foster and James A. Duke
THE ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF WILDFLOWERS AND SHRUBS
By William Carey Grimm
WILDFLOWERS OF OHIO
By Robert L. Henn
WILDFLOWERS AND FERNS OF INDIANA FORESTS
By Michael A. Homoya
A FIELD GUIDE TO MEDICINAL PLANTS
By Arnold and Connie Krochmal
SHRUBS AND WOODY VINES OF MISSOURI
By Don Kurz
EASTERN NORTH AMERICA’S WILDFLOWERS
By Louis C. Linn
EDIBLE WILD PLANTS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEIGHBORING STATES
By Richard J. Medve and Mary lee Medve
NATIVE AMERICAN FOOD PLANTS
By Daniel E. Moerman
NATIVE AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS
By Daniel E. Moerman
EDIBLE AND MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE GREAT LAKES REGION
By Thomas A. Naegele, D.O.
NEWCOMB’S WILDFLOWER GUIDE
By Lawrence Newcomb and Gordon Morrison
EDIBLE WILD PLANTS
By Lee Allen Peterson
WILDFLOWERS
By Roger Tory Peterson and Margaret McKenny
WILD EDIBLE PLANTS OF NEW ENGLAND
By Joan Richardson
BORN IN THE SPRING
By June Carver Roberts
NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY FIELD GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN FLOWERS (EASTERN REGION)
By John W. Thieret, William A. Niering, and Nancy C. Olmstead
SHRUBS AND WOODY VINES OF INDIANA AND THE MIDWESR
By Sally S. Weeks and Harmon R. Weeks, Jr.
EARTH MEDICINE EARTH FOOD
By Michael A. Weiner
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchella_repens