partridgeberry
partridgeberry, (Mitchella repens), North American plant of the madder family (Rubiaceae), growing in dry woods from southwestern Newfoundland westward to Minnesota and southward to Florida and Texas. Partridgeberry is a good wild-garden plant for shady places and is popular in winter terrariums because of its diminutive size and the attractive colour contrast of its fruits and leaves.
- Also called:
- checkerberry, teaberry, two-eyed berry, or running box
Partridgeberry is evergreen, with nearly round 18-mm (0.7-inch) leaves, often variegated with white lines, borne on a slender, often whitish, trailing stem. The fragrant white tubular flowers are often borne in pairs and are replaced by edible but almost tasteless berrylike scarlet drupes. The flowers occur in long-styled and short-styled forms, as in the primrose.