Mitchella

Mitchella
Mitchella repens
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Rubioideae
Tribe: Mitchelleae
Genus: Mitchella
L.
Type species
Mitchella repens
L.
Synonyms

Mitchella is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. It is found from China to temperate eastern Asia, and from eastern Canada to Guatemala.[1]

The genus Mitchella was named by Carl Linnaeus after his friend John Mitchell (1711–1768), an English physician who lived in America and gave Linnaeus much valuable information on the American flora.

It consists of a two species of glabrous or puberulous, creeping, rhizomatous herbs with white axillary flowers with funnel-shaped corollas. They prefer mildly acidic soils, growing in woods near pines, hemlock or mossy hummocks.

The fruits of Mitchella repens, known as partridge berries, are eaten in some places. In Newfoundland, jam is made of a mixture of apples and partridge berries.

Species

References

  1. "Mitchella in the World Checklist of Rubiaceae". Retrieved April 2016. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rubiaceae.
Wikispecies has information related to: Rubiaceae
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.