Partridge berry

Mitchella repens

Foliage Type:

leaf

Arrangement:

simple, opposite

Distinguishing features: low evergreen plant with slightly woody creeping or trailing stems stems tend to root at nodes leaves - stalked, oval to broadly egg-shaped or roundish, rounded or heart-shaped at base, roundish or blunt at tip leaves - 1/4 to 3/4 inch long and wide, untoothed margin, smooth, lustrous above and paler beneath flowers - 4-lobed, white, borne in pairs at end of branchlets, blooming April to June fruits - berry-like, bright red about 1/4 inch in diameter, ripening August or spetember

Habitats:	dry mesic sites mesic sites wet mesic sites
Often confused with:	Fringed Polygala
Ecological Value:
Did You Know?	Partridge berry is also called Twinberry.  The berries are edible.
Uses / Ethnobotanical uses:	used as a diuretic and astringent beneficial helping women prepare for childbirth related to bedstraw