Mitchella repens
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Partridge Berry, Twinberry
Rubiaceae
Plant Specifics
| Form: | Flower | |
| Size: | 1-2 inches ft | |
| Life Span: | Short-lived perennial | |
| Flower Color: | White | |
| Fruit Color: | Red | |
| Phenology: | Evergreen | |
| Noted for: | Showy flowers, Showy fruits, Interesting foliage |
Landscaping
| Recommended Uses: | Typically grown as a curiosity. This is a very small plant that acts as a groundcover with the caveat that the plants are very small. Keep it in a natural forested setting or establish in such an area. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Propagation: | Seed or division of existing groups of plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Availability: | Friends, Seed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Light: | Shade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: |
always floodedextremely dry |
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| (Somewhat moist, no flooding ----- to ----- Not wet but not extremely dry) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moisture Tolerance: | Somewhat moist, no flooding ----- to ----- Not wet but not extremely dry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Water Flooding Tolerance: | Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Salt Spray/ Salty Soil Tolerance: | Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil or other substrate: | Loam, Sand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Soil pH: | Acid to neutral | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ecology
| Wildlife: |
Birds and small mammals consume the berries which mature in the fall and are retained through the winter and spring. | |
| Insects: | Bumblebees pollinate the flowers. Cross-pollination, required for seed set, is controlled by factors that permit germination of pollen from long anthers only on the stigmas of a different flower with a long styles; conversely, pollen from short anthers can germinate only on the stigmas of a different flower with a short styles. (VNPS).
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| Native Habitats: | Hammocks, upland hardwood forests, upland mixed forest, seep slopes, second bottom and levees in floodplains. |
Distribution and Planting Zones
Natural Range in Florida
USDA Zones
Suitable to grow in:
8A 8B 9A 9B
USDA zones are based on minimum winter temperatures
Comments
| General Comments: | This little plant produces two flowers with ovaries that fuse into a single fruit. |