MADDER FAMILY 



RUBIACEAE 



PARTRIDGE BERRY 



Mite hell a rep ens 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 nimiber 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 herb is 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 stigrnas. 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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