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Rubiaceae
Partridge Berry
Mitchella repens
Woodland partnership and mutual dependence.
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- Genus
- Mitchella
- Native to
- eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Late Spring, Early Summer
- Type
- evergreen ground cover
- Height
- 3–8 cm
- Sunlight
- part shade to full shade
- Soil
- acidic, humus-rich, moist
- Water
- moderate; consistent moisture
- Hardiness
- 3–9
- Lifespan
- perennial; very long-lived
Did you know
- The flowers always come in pairs, and both must be pollinated for a single berry to form — each berry has two 'eyes' from the two fused ovaries.
- The bright red berries persist through winter, providing food for grouse and wild turkeys — hence 'partridge berry'.
- It was one of the first American plants sent to Europe, where it became a Victorian terrarium favorite.
- Cherokee women drank a tea of the leaves in the weeks before childbirth, giving it the folk name 'squaw vine'.
- The creeping mats can persist for decades, slowly spreading just a few centimeters per year across the forest floor.
Color meanings
White
paired devotion
Pink-Tinged
shared tenderness