S A iu a ® a»
MITCHELLA REPENS.
CREEPING MITCHELLA. PARTRIDGE-BERRY. CHEQUER-BERRY.
Tetrandria Monogynia, Linn. Rubiacese, Juss.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Flowers by pairs upon the same germ, superior. Calix 4-toothed. Corolla funnel-
form, tube cylindric. Limb 4-parted, spreading, villous on the inner side.
Stamina 4, scarcely exserted. Stigma 4-cleft. Berry by the union of two germs,
didymous, 4-seeded.
An humble but beautiful evergreen plant. Roots perennial. Stems
fruticose, creeping, tortuous. Leaves very numerous, orbicular, varying
in size from a quarter to half an inch in diameter—situated by
pairs on petioles as long as their diameter. Petioles opposite. Flowers
in pairs, terminal, white, pubescent within. Berry, or enlarged calix,
of a bright scarlet. Grows in great abundance where found, covering
several feet of ground like a mat, with its evergreen verdure.
On rocks and in shady woods of rich soil—delighting in shade, and
seldom found where the sun penetrates. Flowers in May and June.
VOL. III. 19