Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0, cropped · Wikimedia Commons

Partridgeberry

Scientific name: Mitchella repens · Family: Rubiaceae (madder family)

Also called twinberry, two-eyed berry, running box, running-fox, winter clover.

A trailing evergreen an inch or two high, whose paired white flowers join to make one red berry that often lasts the winter.

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EvergreenTolerates shadeWinter interestWildlife valueShowy flowers

Type: Shrub
Mature height: 1 ft
USDA zones: 3–8
Growth rate: Slow
Flowers: May to July
Fruit: Berries, July to February
First crop: —
Mature spread: 1 ft
Sun: Part, Shade
Soil moisture: Dry, Average
Grows wild in: The forest understory, stream banks, floodplain forests and rich moist slopes
Native range: 33 states and the District of Columbia, north to Minnesota, south to Florida and west to Texas
List all 34
Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia
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Partridgeberry is a trailing evergreen of the madder family whose slender stems creep over the forest floor and root where they touch the ground. Its small, glossy leaves sit in pairs and carry pale veins. Its fragrant white flowers open in pairs as well, and each pair fuses into a single scarlet berry, which is why it is also called twinberry. Iowa lists it as endangered. Grow it under trees, in a rock garden or around a small pond in shade, where a small space suits its slow, fine-textured carpet.

Size, growth and what to expect

It grows slowly, a few inches a year in our growth estimator. It lies flat, only 1 to 3 inches high, and a plant's stems trail 6 to 12 inches, spreading a foot or more across. Rooting as they go, the stems can join into colonies several yards wide. The leaves are under an inch long, oval to heart-shaped.

Fragrant white flowers, often flushed with pink, open from May to July. Bumblebees carry their pollen, and the berries ripen from July into late summer, about a third of an inch across. They are edible but nearly tasteless, and they often last through the winter. Ruffed grouse, wild turkeys, quail, songbirds, foxes, raccoons, skunks and white-footed mice eat them.

It grows wild from Newfoundland and Ontario south to Florida and west to Minnesota, Missouri and eastern Texas. Its home is moist or dry woods of hardwoods or conifers, stream banks, rotting logs and sandy slopes.

How to grow Partridgeberry

Partridgeberry grows in shade or part shade, and it takes morning sun. It needs a moist, well-drained soil rich in humus and on the acid side. Once settled it stands some drought, but it does best when the soil stays moist. Set plants 2 feet apart and keep them 2 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship potted. Plant them in spring or fall, in a hole wider than the root ball and no deeper, and keep the root ball whole. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch ring clear of the stems. It is very hard to raise from seed. Sow the cleaned seed outdoors in fall and mulch the bed over winter. For spring, hold the damp seed in the refrigerator for 150 to 180 days first. Many seeds wait until the second spring to sprout.

Water it every day for the first two weeks after planting, then every two to three days until week 12. After that, water weekly through the first two summers, and if it wilts, water it within two days, or it starts to die. Keep fallen leaves and garden debris from covering the mats.

Each plant bears flowers of one of two forms, long-styled or short-styled, and only pollen carried between the two forms sets berries, so plant three or more seedlings to have both. Both flowers of a pair must be pollinated to make one berry. No significant pests or diseases trouble it, and deer seldom damage it.

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

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