Mitchella repens

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Partridge berry
Mitchella repens Partridge berry Norfolk Connecticut 05112019.jpg
Leaves and berry
Mitchella repens - Partridge Berry.jpg
Flowers and berry
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Mitchella
Species:
M. repens
Binomial name
Mitchella repens
L.

Mitchella repens (commonly partridge berry or squaw vine) is the best known plant in the genus Mitchella . It is a creeping prostrate herbaceous woody shrub occurring in North America belonging to the madder family (Rubiaceae).

Contents

Names

Mitchella repens is one of the many species first described by Carl Linnaeus. Its species name is the Latin adjective repens, which means "creeping". Common names for Mitchella repens include partridge berry, [1] [2] [3] [4] [lower-alpha 1] squaw vine, [5] [lower-alpha 2] twin berry, [6] [7] [lower-alpha 3] two-eyed berry, [8] running box, [7] checker berry [7] [lower-alpha 4] and tea berry [7] [lower-alpha 5] in English.

In aboriginal languages, it is known as binemiin, binemin and binewimin in Ojibwe, [8] noon-yeah-ki'e oo-nah'yea in Onondaga [9] and fiːtó imilpá in Koasati (Coushatta). [7]

Description

The partridge berry is an evergreen plant growing as a non-climbing vine, no taller than 6 cm tall with creeping stems 15 to 30 cm long. The evergreen, dark green, shiny leaves are ovate to cordate in shape. The leaves have a pale yellow midrib. The petioles are short, and the leaves are paired oppositely on the stems. Adventitious roots may grow at the nodes; [6] and rooting stems may branch and root repeatedly, producing loose spreading mats.

The small, trumpet-shaped, axillary flowers are produced in pairs, and each flower pair arises from one common calyx which is covered with fine hairs. Each flower has four white petals, one pistil, and four stamens. Partridge berry is a distylous taxon. The plants have flowers with either long pistils and short stamens (long-styled flowers, called pins) or short pistils and long stamens (short-styled flowers, called thrums). [10] The two style morphs are genetically determined, so the pollen from one morph does not fertilize the other morph, resulting in a form of heteromorphic self-incompatibility. [11]

Partridge berry (Mitchella repens) Mitchella.repens02.jpg
Partridge berry (Mitchella repens)
Foliage, inflorescence, and unopened blossom Mitchella repens 03.jpg
Foliage, inflorescence, and unopened blossom
Berries Mitchella repens, berries.jpg
Berries

The ovaries of the twin flowers fuse together, so that there are two flowers for each berry. The two bright red spots on each berry are vestiges of this process. The fruit ripens between July and October, and may persist through the winter. The fruit is a drupe containing up to eight seeds. The fruits are never abundant. They may be part of the diets of several birds, such as ruffed grouse, sharp-tailed grouse, northern bobwhite, and wild turkey. They are also consumed by foxes, white-footed mice, and skunks. [12] [13] The foliage is occasionally consumed by white-tailed deer. [14]

The common reproduction is vegetative, with plants forming spreading colonies. [15]

Distribution and habitat

The species is distributed throughout eastern North America, from south Eastern Canada south to Florida and Texas, and to Guatemala. It is found growing in dry or moist woods, along stream banks and on sandy slopes.

Cultivation and uses

Mitchella repens is cultivated for its ornamental red berries and shiny, bright green foliage. [15] It is grown as a creeping ground cover in shady locations. It is rarely propagated for garden use by way of seeds but cuttings are easy. [16] The plants have been widely collected for Christmas decorations, and over collecting has impacted some local populations negatively. [15] The plants are sometimes grown in terrariums. [17]

The scarlet berries are edible [18] but rather tasteless, with a faint flavour of wintergreen, resembling cranberries (to which they are not closely related). American Indian women made a tisane from the leaves and berries that was consumed during childbirth; [15] the Menominees used the leaves for a drink to cure insomnia. [7]

Traditionally, the plant had numerous medicinal uses including as a diuretic (by the Cherokee and Iroquois), a diaphoretic (Cherokee), for women's problems or reproductive issues (Cherokee, Delaware, Iroquois), and as an analgesic or to reduce fever or swelling (Abenaki, Iroquois, Montagnais). [7]

Notes

  1. ↑ Or partridgeberry. This name sometimes refers to Vaccinium vitis-idaea (the lingonberry), but wild partridgeberry is more common for that species.
  2. ↑ Or squaw berry.
  3. ↑ Or twinberry.
  4. ↑ Checker berry usually refers to Gaultheria procumbens (the American wintergreen).
  5. ↑ Tea berry usually refers to Gaultheria procumbens (the American wintergreen).

Related Research Articles

<i>Mitchella</i> Genus of flowering plants

Mitchella is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found from China to temperate eastern Asia, and from eastern Canada to Guatemala.

<i>Vaccinium vitis-idaea</i> Species of shrub with edible fruit

Vaccinium vitis-idaea, the lingonberry, partridgeberry, foxberry, mountain cranberry or cowberry, is a small evergreen shrub in the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including Eurasia and North America. Commercially cultivated in the United States Pacific Northwest and the Netherlands, the edible berries are also picked in the wild and used in various dishes, especially in Nordic cuisine.

<i>Gaultheria shallon</i> Species of flowering plant

Gaultheria shallon is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. In English, it is known as salal, shallon, or gaultheria.

<i>Symphoricarpos</i> Genus of flowering plants in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae

Symphoricarpos, commonly known as the snowberry, waxberry, or ghostberry, is a small genus of about 15 species of deciduous shrubs in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. With the exception of the Chinese coralberry, S. sinensis, which is indigenous to western China, all species are native to North and Central America. The name of the genus is derived from the Ancient Greek words συμφορεῖν (sumphoreîn), meaning "to bear together", and καρπός (karpós), meaning "fruit". It refers to the closely packed clusters of berries the species produces.

<i>Gaultheria procumbens</i> Species of flowering plant

Gaultheria procumbens, also called the eastern teaberry, the checkerberry, the boxberry, or the American wintergreen, is a species of Gaultheria native to northeastern North America from Newfoundland west to southeastern Manitoba, and south to Alabama. It is a member of the Ericaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wintergreen</span> Small shrub in the Heath family

Wintergreen is a group of aromatic plants. The term wintergreen once commonly referred to plants that remain green throughout the winter. The term evergreen is now more commonly used for this characteristic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heterostyly</span> Two different types of flowers (style) on same plant

Heterostyly is a unique form of polymorphism and herkogamy in flowers. In a heterostylous species, two or three morphological types of flowers, termed "morphs", exist in the population. On each individual plant, all flowers share the same morph. The flower morphs differ in the lengths of the pistil and stamens, and these traits are not continuous. The morph phenotype is genetically linked to genes responsible for a unique system of self-incompatibility, termed heteromorphic self-incompatibility, that is, the pollen from a flower on one morph cannot fertilize another flower of the same morph.

<i>Fragaria virginiana</i> Species of strawberry

Fragaria virginiana, known as Virginia strawberry, wild strawberry, common strawberry, or mountain strawberry, is a North American strawberry that grows across much of the United States and southern Canada. It is one of the two species of wild strawberry that were hybridized to create the modern domesticated garden strawberry.

<i>Mertensia virginica</i> Species of flowering plant

Mertensia virginica is a spring ephemeral plant in the Boraginaceae (borage) family with bell-shaped sky-blue flowers, native to eastern North America.

<i>Ranunculus acris</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae

Ranunculus acris is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, and is one of the more common buttercups across Europe and temperate Eurasia. Common names include meadow buttercup, tall buttercup, common buttercup and giant buttercup.

<i>Berberis repens</i> Western North American species of barberry

Berberis repens commonly known as creeping mahonia, creeping grape holly, or creeping barberry, is a species of Berberis native to most of the western United States and two western provinces of Canada. It is low growing shrub that spreads by underground stems. As a species it is well adapted to fire and is a very common understory plant in western forests. An evergreen species, it provides food to deer and elk in winter and can make up a significant part of their diet. The berries are eaten by birds and small mammals, aiding it in spreading to recently disturbed areas. It has found use as a xeric ornamental plant and has escaped from cultivation in areas beyond its native range.

<i>Epigaea repens</i> Species of flowering plant

Epigaea repens, the mayflower, trailing arbutus, or ground laurel, is a low, spreading shrub in the family Ericaceae. It is found from Newfoundland to Florida, west to Kentucky and the Northwest Territories.

Deer berry is a common name for several plants and may refer to:

<i>Jeffersonia</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the barberry family

Jeffersonia, also known as twinleaf or rheumatism root, is a small genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Berberidaceae. They are uncommon spring wildflowers and grow in limestone soils of rich deciduous forests. Jeffersonia was named for United States President Thomas Jefferson by his contemporary Benjamin Smith Barton. This genus was formerly grouped in genus Podophyllum. Twinleaf is protected by state laws as a threatened or endangered plant in Georgia, Iowa, New York, and New Jersey.

<i>Gaultheria humifusa</i> Species of flowering plant

Gaultheria humifusa is a species of shrub in the heath family which is known by the common names alpine wintergreen and alpine spicy wintergreen. It is native to western North America, from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in moist subalpine mountain forests. It is a low, spreading shrub which may be quite small, forming flat patches on the ground or amongst rock and leaf litter. The stems are less than 20 cm (7.9 in) in length and have small oval-shaped leaves 1 to 2 cm long. It bears solitary bell-shaped flowers with white to light pink corollas and golden anthers which, after pollination, mature into bright to dull red berrylike fruit capsules. The leaves and fruit of Gaultheria humifusa are edible.

<i>Gaultheria ovatifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Gaultheria ovatifolia is a species of shrub in the heath family which is known by the common names western teaberry, Oregon spicy wintergreen, and slender wintergreen. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows in high mountain forests.

<i>Gaultheria hispidula</i> Species of plant

Gaultheria hispidula, commonly known as the creeping snowberry or moxie-plum, and known to Micmaq tribes of Newfoundland as Manna Teaberry, is a perennial spreading ground-level vine of the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to North America and produces small white edible berries. It fruits from August to September. Its leaves and berries taste and smell like wintergreen.

<i>Kalmiopsis fragrans</i> Species of flowering plant

Kalmiopsis fragrans is a rare species of flowering plant in the heath family known by the common name North Umpqua kalmiopsis. It is endemic to Oregon in the United States, where there are just a few known populations, all within Douglas County.

<i>Gaultheria adenothrix</i> Species of flowering plant

Gaultheria adenothrix, known as アカモノ (akamono) or イワハゼ (iwahaze), is a small evergreen shrub in the Ericaceae. It is one of three Gaultheria species native to Japan and grows in low-mountain to subalpine areas.

References

  1. ↑ Peterson, Roger Tory, and McKenny, Margaret (1996). A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-central North America . ISBN   978-0-395-91172-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ MacKenzie, David, S (2002). Perennial Ground Covers. ISBN   978-0-88192-557-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ Hutchens, Alma R (1969). Indian Herbalogy of North America. ISBN   978-0-87773-639-4.
  4. ↑ Hall, Joan Houston (2002). Dictionary of American Regional English. Harvard University Press. p. 47. ISBN   978-0-674-00884-7 . Retrieved 2007-11-16.
  5. ↑ Susan Gregg. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Magical Plants, Revised: A Practical Guide to Creating Healing, Protection, and Prosperity Using Plants, Herbs, and Flowers. Fair Winds Press, 2013. p. 65. ISBN   9781592335831
  6. 1 2 Nathaniel Lord Britton; Addison Brown (1913). An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British possessions: from Newfoundland to the parallel of the southern boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean westward to the 102d meridian. Vol. 3. C. Scribner's sons. pp.  255–. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Daniel F. Austin. Florida Ethnobotany. CRC Press, 2004. pp. 441–442. ISBN   9780203491881
  8. 1 2 "Mitchella repens L." at the Northern Ontario Plant Database. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  9. ↑ W. M. Beauchamp. "Onondaga Plant Names." The Journal of American Folklore.15:57 (April–June 1902). p. 99. doi : 10.2307/533477
  10. ↑ Reproductive Biology of Distylous Partridgeberry, Mitchella repens. David J. Hicks, Robert Wyatt and Thomas R. Meagher Vol. 72, No. 10 (Oct., 1985), pp. 1503-1514 Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2443300
  11. ↑ Fecundity in Distylous and Self-Incompatible Homostylous Plants of Mitchella repens (Rubiaceae) Fred R. Ganders Vol. 29, No. 1 (Mar., 1975), pp. 186-188 Published by: Society for the Study of Evolution Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2407152
  12. ↑ Alexander Campbell Martin; Herbert Spencer Zim; Arnold L. Nelson (1951). American wildlife & plants: a guide to wildlife food habits; the use of trees, shrubs, weeds, and herbs by birds and mammals of the United States. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 361–. ISBN   978-0-486-20793-3 . Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  13. ↑ Marie Harrison (30 March 2006). Groundcovers for the South. Pineapple Press Inc. pp. 76–. ISBN   978-1-56164-347-9 . Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  14. ↑ James Howard Miller; Karl V. Miller (May 2005). Forest plants of the Southeast and their wildlife uses. University of Georgia Press. pp. 280–. ISBN   978-0-8203-2748-8 . Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Wolfram George Schmid (13 September 2002). An encyclopedia of shade perennials. Timber Press. pp. 243–. ISBN   978-0-88192-549-4 . Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  16. ↑ William Cullina (18 March 2000). New England Wildflower Society guide to growing and propagating wildflowers of the United States and Canada. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 148–. ISBN   978-0-395-96609-9 . Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  17. ↑ "Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - the University of Texas at Austin".
  18. ↑ Angier, Bradford (1974). Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books. p. 162. ISBN   0-8117-0616-8. OCLC   799792.
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