Partridgeberry
(𝑴𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔)
Conservation Status: No Current Status Rank in Maine
Photo Credit: John Munt/Flickr
Facts: Partridgeberry, also known as twinflower, is a native perennial species belonging to the madder (Rubiaceae) family. It can be found throughout Maine, on the Refuge, and even as far south in the United States as Florida and Texas. The trailing stems spread and carpet both coniferous and deciduous forest floors with dark green, leathery, evergreen leaves set opposite and always in twos. In late spring a pair of small, fragrant, tubular, white flowers bloom. The flowers have a fused ovary and each flower must be pollinated (by insects) in order for the plant to produce its one annual red berry. The berry itself can remain on the plant throughout the winter and is a great food source for birds, which, in turn, distribute the seeds. Ruffed grouse and wild turkey are often spotted feasting in a carpet of partridgeberry under the shade of an eastern hemlock, but songbirds and small mammals also regularly consume the fleshy berries.
Fun Facts: Historically, women of indigenous communities drank tea from the leaves of partridgeberry to ease labor pains and menstrual cramps. The genus name, 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, was named for John Mitchell, an eighteenth-century botanist and physician who established a method of treating yellow fever (a dangerous virus spread through mosquitos that is still present in some countries, but for which an effective vaccine exists).
Sources: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/mitchella_repens.shtml, https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MIRE, https://chestnutherbs.com/partridgeberry-materia-medica/