All About Partridge Berry - Mitchella Repens

Partridge berry, or Mitchella repens, is an appealing ground cover plant that thrives throughout deciduous forests, especially in the low lying areas at the base and foothills of the Appalachian Mountain range. Partridge berry grows completely prostrate to the ground and provides excellent groundcover in a shaded garden, especially if you enjoy working with wild plants. This modest native groundcover is easy to tame and is resistant to most problem insects and fungi of the eastern coast of the United States. Despite being very common, partridge berry is a pleasant companion to both the wild trail and the home garden.

Identifying Partridge Berry

While the foliage of some deciduous undergrowth is quite difficult to identify, partridge berry is a very simple ground cover plant that is quite easy to identify. Partridge berry crawls along the forest floor in sets of mirroring ovate leaves that are 10 to 20 mm long. From May through June, the partridge berry produces trumpet shaped flowers with four waxy, white petals. During the early autumn, these flowers develop into bright red berries that easily catch the eye during a fall stroll through the foothills. Once you've learned how to spot partridge berry in the wild, you'll start seeing it anywhere.

Gardening with Partridge Berry

While partridge berry may appear to only grow in select parts of the lowland deciduous forests in the wild, is a surprisingly forgiving plant to grow in the garden, so long as you plant it in a setting where it will feel at home. Partridge berries thrive on the top soils created by years of decayed deciduous tree leaves, and they are likely to be most happy in similar situations in the home garden. Partridge berry does best when it is allowed to spread out into a modest patch under the constant shade of some large trees and is a great choice for ground cover in the more heavily shaded sections of your property.

Medicinal and Culinary Uses for Partridge Berry

Both Native Americans and early settlers have made medicinal use out of the partridge berry. A tea can be made from the leaves and fruit of this plant that is useful in treating rheumatism as well as a topical treatment for allergic reactions such as hives. Although the fruits of the partridge berry are edible, they are considered far too bitter for most culinary uses unless they are incorporated into sauces or baked goods.

Sources:

Wildflowers of North Carolina. Justice, Bell & Lindsey. University of North Carolina Press:Chapel Hill. 2004.
Peterson Field Guides: Wildflowers. Peterson & McKenny. Houghton Mufflin Press:Boston. 1987.