Mitchella repens

partridge berry, twinberry

Rubiaceae

Plant Specifics

Form:

flower

Size:

1-2 inches ft

Life Span:

short-lived perennial

Flower Color:

white

Fruit Color:

red

Phenology:

evergreen

Noted For:

Showy Flowers, Showy Fruits, Interesting Foliage

Landscaping

Recommended Uses:

Typically grown as a curiosity. This is a very small plant that acts as a groundcover with the caveat that the plants are very small. Keep it in a natural forested setting or establish in such an area.

Considerations:

Light:

Shade

Moisture Tolerance:

Somewhat moist, no flooding ---- to ---- Not wet but not extremely dry

Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:

Unknown

Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:

Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray

Soil or Other Substrate:

Sand, Loam

Suitable to Grow In:

8A,8B,9A,9B

Ecology

Wildlife:

Pollinators, Birds, Mammals

Bumblebees pollinate the flowers. Cross-pollination, required for seed set, is controlled by factors that permit germination of pollen from long anthers only on the stigmas of a different flower with a long styles; conversely, pollen from short anthers can germinate only on the stigmas of a different flower with a short styles. ( VNPS ).





 

Birds  and small mammals consume the berries which mature in the fall and are retained through the winter and spring. 

Native Habitats:

Hammocks, upland hardwood forests, upland mixed forest, seep slopes, second bottom and levees in floodplains.