Perennial herb, evergreen, mat-forming 10 - 30 cm tall Stem: creeping and rooting at the nodes. Leaves: opposite, stalked, shiny, whitish-veined, 1 - 2 cm long, rounded to egg-shaped. Flowers: mostly terminal, paired, white, 1 - 1.4 cm long, funnel-shaped, bearded within, with four (sometimes three, five, or six) short, spreading lobes. Style one, stigmas four. Fruit: a berry, red, 5 - 8 mm wide, with two side-by-side dimples. Seeds eight.
Similar species: No information at this time.
Flowering: late May to early September
Habitat and ecology: Local in acid woodlands, and often found in swampy forests where rotted logs have formed hummocks, upon which this plant grows. Has also been found on old dune slopes and in mesic woods.
Occurence in the Chicago region: native
Etymology: Mitchella is named after Dr. John Mitchell (1680-1768), a colonial botanist, physician, and scientist from Virginia. Repens means creeping.
Stems rooting at the nodes, 1-3 dm, forming mats; lvs petioled, round-ovate, 1-2 cm; fls mostly terminal, the common peduncle shorter than the subtending lvs; cor 10-14 mm occasionally with 3, 5, or 6 lobes; fr insipid, 5-8 mm thick, crowned with the short sep; 2n=22. Woods; N.S. to Ont. and Minn., s. to Fla. and Tex. May-July.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
