LucasLand
The Wildflowers
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The Wildflowers |
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Mitchella repens
There is information from 3 sites. The first from the site ☼ is a general description of the plant.
The second is from Botanicals.com. The third is from King's American Dispensatory. and all for such a small plant Partridgeberry (squawvine) is Noon kie oo nah yeah
in Mohawk. I've been unable to find any other Indian names for it, although it
was apparently widely used as a womens' medicine among eastern tribes.
In spring -- April to June -- the evergreen vine flowers with these fragrant white trumpet-shaped 4-petaled flowers. The vine grows about 6 to 12" high, creeping through moss around old tree stumps. The leaves are thick, very shiny, heart-shaped in opposite pairs. In the fall, berries form and become bright scarlet. Scarlet fruits remain on the vine all winter if not eaten by birds and deer.
King's American Dispensatory ☼ Mitchella.—Partridgeberry.The
whole plant of Mitchella repens, Linné. Botanical Source.—This is an indigenous, evergreen herb, with a perennial root, from which arises a smooth and creeping stem, furnished with roundish ovate, or slightly heart-shaped, petiolate, opposite, flat, coriaceous, dark-green and shining leaves, usually variegated with whitish lines. The flowers are white, often tinged with red, very fragrant, in pairs, with their ovaries united. Calyx 4-parted. Corolla funnel-form, two on each double ovary, limb 4-parted, spreading, and densely hairy within. Stamens 4, short, and inserted on the corolla. Style slender; stigmas 4. The fruit is a dry berry-like, double drupe, crowned with the calyx-teeth of the two flowers, each containing 4 small and seed-like, bony nutlets. History.—This plant is indigenous to the United States, growing in dry woods, among hemlock-timber, and in swampy places, flowering in June and July. The whole plant is medicinal, and imparts its virtues to boiling water or alcohol. Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Partridgeberry is parturient, diuretic, and astringent. Used in dropsy, suppression of urine and diarrhoea, in decoction. It seems to have an especial affinity for the uterus, exerting a powerful tonic and alterative influence upon this organ, and has hence been found highly beneficial in many uterine derangements, as in amenorrhoea, some forms of dysmenorrhoea, menorrhagia, chronic congestion of the uterus, enfeebled uterine nervous system, etc. It is said that the squaws drink a decoction of this plant for several weeks previous to their confinement, for the purpose of rendering parturition safe and easy. Similar virtues have been ascribed to it by competent physicians of our time. The remedy is peculiarly American, not being noticed or used by foreign practitioners. Dose of a strong decoction, from 2 to 4 fluid ounces, 2 or 3 times a day. The berries are a popular remedy for diarrhoea and dysuria. Used as follows, partridgeberry is highly recommended as a cure for sore nipples: Take 2 ounces of the herb, fresh if possible, and make a strong decoction with a pint of water, then strain, and add as much good cream as there is liquid of the decoction. Boil the whole down to the consistence of a soft salve, and when cool, anoint the nipple with it every time the child is removed from the breast.
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The
berries are tasteless but occasionally were useful as emergency food. Where it is used to
promote easy childbirth, a tea of the leaves is taken only during the last few
weeks. It should be noted that one of the Iroquois medical uses for this vine
was as an abortifacient.