Mitchella repens
Rubiaceae

I’ve written about partridgeberry before, I know. But it’s such a neat little plant, I can’t resist posting about it. And it’s in full bloom now.

It’s a trailing vine that can grow many feet long but rarely more than an inch tall.

(<—pinkie finger shot to give sense of scale)

Amusing fact: you’ll find it in the Peterson Field Guide “Trees and Shrubs”, I suppose because it’s woody (barely) and evergreen.

Partridgeberry ranges from Quebec to Florida and west to Texas, and is threatened in Iowa.  No other species of Mitchella grow in North America. It likes moist, acidic soils and can often be found trailing along rocks.

The plants produce pairs of blossoms; if both are pollinated, the ovaries will fuse to produce a single oval, red berry with two dimples.

Other common names include squawberry, running box, twinberry, and pigeon plum.

(You know how people squeal over puppies and kittens?  I could almost squeal over partridgeberry.  I mean really, isn’t it just precious?)