Observations on Mitchella repens, the partridgeberry.

Abstract

Mitchella repens is a prostrate, evergreen, perennial herb with opposite, dark green leaves with whitened veins. Its white, tubular flowers grow in pairs, united by their ovaries, and produce a red, syncarpous berry. Although some secondary thickening of the stem occurs, it is functionally an herbaceous plant. It is typical of deciduous forest floors of North America, ranging from Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota in the north and Florida to Texas in the south, with outlying populations in Mexico and Guatemala. Only one other species of Mitchella is known, and it occurs in northeast Asia.