MADDER FAMILY RUBIACEAE 
PARTRIDGE BERRY 
Mitchella repens L. 
The Madder family is very large and noteworthy, with most 
of its members tropical. Most important economically are the 
Coffee and Quinine plants. A number of species are cultivated 
for their beautiful 
flowers. Certain 
tropical members 
have on their 
leaves little tuber- 
cles inhabited by 
bacteria which 
have the ability to 
utilize nitrogen of 
the atmosphere in 
much the same 
way that bacteria 
in root tubercles 
of the Pulse fam- 
ily do. 
This very pretty 
trailing herbis found 
in dry woods from Nova Scotia to Minnesota and south to Florida 
and Texas, creeping about the bases of trees. Not common in 
most parts of Illinois, it is found locally throughout, particularly 
in rocky woods. 
The branching stems, 6-12 inches long, root at the nodes. The 
leaves are often variegated with whitish lines. Generally they 
are ovate-circular, obtuse at the apex and round or slightly 
heart shaped at the base, opposite, petioled and entire or wavy 
margined. 
The dimorphous flowers are white and fragrant. They are 
produced from April to June in pairs on a common peduncle, with 
their 2 ovaries united. The calyx is tubular and 4-toothed. The 
corolla is tubular, 4-lobed at the end and densely bearded inside, 
with 4 stamens inserted in the throat. The style is slender and 
there are 4 stigmas. The bright red and edible, though nearly 
tasteless, fruit is a sort of double berry with 2 ‘blow ends” which 
mark the former positions of the flowers. These berries persist 
through the winter. 
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