Planting the Future

PARTRIDGEBERRY

Mitchella repens

SUSUN S. WEED

Take a walk with me through my woods: a third-growth white pine, oak, ash, deciduous forest. We’ll have to walk for a while to get to where the partridgeberry grows. It’s hard to find her near the house. Let’s go on the trail that leads to the swamp, where it is always shady and cool.

Look here, nestled in the roots of these big oaks, here in the needle duff of these white pines, here in the shelter of this graceful hemlock. See those oval, paired leaves, each on its own little stem, each about the size of my thumbnail, with a lighter stripe down the middle? Look around and you’ll see strings (as short as a few inches or as long as a foot) of these small evergreen vines sewing the forest floor together for acres and acres. Her name is Mitchella, and she is one of the most common understory plants of regenerating forests throughout the Catskill Mountains. My Peterson’s field guide says she is found as far south as Florida, as far west as Texas and Minnesota, and as far north as Nova Scotia. According to Hutchens and Millspaugh, Mitchella has been found in Mexico, as far south as Guatemala, and in Japan, too.

If you visit in the summer (mid- to late June here in the Hudson River Valley, late July at higher elevations, April way down south) and get close to the ground, you’ll see the fuzzy, firm-textured, white or blushing pink, paired flowers of Mitchella. Their lovely starry faces with dainty petals (mostly in fours, but sixes are common, and threes and fives have been seen) arise from half-inch long white tubes and four-toothed calyxes found at the growing tips of the plant. Two sweetly scented flowers, each with four short stamens and four stigmas, share an ovary, and the small tasteless, persistent red berry they coproduce shows two scars and bears four to eight seeds. There’s been a lot of buzz about her sexuality. As early as 1868 Mr. Thomas Meehan reported in the American Journal of Pharmacy that Mitchella has some male flowers and some female flowers. But I don’t find anyone nowadays who agrees with his observation.

Yes, the partridges do eat the berries, and yes, her leaves are always small, green, and leathery. And that does make her easy to confuse with other small, waxy, leathery, native plants.

She isn’t pipsissewa (Chimaphila umbellata), although many herbalists avow that they can be freely substituted for each other. Here’s pipsissewa, under the pines in the old mule trail through the quarry. She stands up while Mitchella reclines. Her leaves are alternate, while Mitchella’s are opposed. And pipsissewa leaves are bigger, longer, and very strongly toothed, altogether different from Mitchella’s jolly little ovals, which sometimes extend a bit into a heart shape.

And she isn’t true wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), either—although they do both go by many of the same names: partridgeberry, deerberry, checkerberry, teaberry. And both have small oval, waxy, evergreen leaves and red berries that stay all winter. But wintergreen is upright, with alternate, slightly toothed leaves on a little woody stem, while Mitchella sprawls, rooting at her nodes as she goes, putting down first whitish, then brownish, threadlike fibrous roots. The perennial rhizomes help every rooted node send out new shoots until the ground is matted over with Mitchella. There’s wintergreen, those little plants over there by the rotting log. Small as they are, Mitchella is smaller yet.

You wouldn’t confuse her with this pretty plant over here in the swampy area if you were in the field, even though Mitchella can grow in very damp environs. These leaves are large and heart shaped with a scalloped edge and a taste of roses. And the sunny yellow flowers change her leaves to lyrelike. But in the library you could get confused. Because Senecio aureus, golden ragwort—or liferoot, as we prefer to call her—is also disrespectfully called “squaw weed.”

What a surprise to be told this prolific perennial plant is at risk. What a delight to be asked to introduce her to you. And to share with you a story from my adopted grandmother, Yewenode Two Wolves, She Whose Voice Rides the Wind, also known as Twylah Nitsch.

When the white man first came to the longhouses of the people of the Peaceful Nations, they could not speak intelligently. They made signs to say they were in need. When they pretended to be tying strings under their chins, we brought them feather headdresses; but they did not want those. When they motioned to their chests, we brought them bone chest plates; but they did not want those. Then they made much show of pointing to their genitals—what we call “squaw” when we wish to make fun—and so at last we knew what they wanted. How surprised we were to hear them refer to the women by this crude word: squaw. How harshly it falls upon our ears to hear you repeat it.

After hearing this story, I started calling her Mitchella, even though my books referred to her as “squaw vine” (a name I now understand is the same as saying “schmuck vine”). I could also call her checkerberry, deerberry, twinberry, two-eyed berry, two-eyed chequerberry, creeping checkerberry, odor berry, stinking berry, foxberry, boxberry, chickenberry, cowberry, partridgeberry, pigeon-berry, snakeberry, teaberry, one-berry, partridge vine, winter clover, running box, or hive vine. Mitchella is in the Rubiaceae family, and is the only member of her genus, named in honor of Dr. John Mitchell, an early American botanist.

Mitchella is especially notable for the number of encyclopedic and specific books that do not include her. She is not mentioned in the classic European herbals, of course, but neither is she to be found in modern European herbals, most of which include such indigenous American plants as echinacea and cimicifuga. Mitchella is not included in Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada by Charles Frances Saunders (1920) nor in Steven Foster’s Forest Pharmacy, Medicinal Plants in American Forests (1995); she is not even mentioned once in the Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Murray and Pizzorno. Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals by Max Wichtl does not include Mitchella, and neither does Major Medicinal Plants by Julia Morton, nor the new (1998) Physician’s Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines. And although it is continuously cited as a plant used by American Indians, Frances Densmore (1928) did not find it used for food, medicine, art, dye, or charms by the Chippewa. It arrived late in the National Formulary of the United States (1926) and remained listed barely twenty years (1947).

Early references to Mitchella include a mention by Cotton Mather in the early eighteenth century, and one by Dr. Barton at the end of that century. Erichsen-Brown cites Rafinesque, 1830, commenting on the use of the leaf tea as a mild diuretic against dropsy and gout, and the berries as a popular remedy against diarrhea. An 1849 “Report on the Indigenous Medical Botany of Massachusetts” by Stephen Williams says much the same. By 1861 Gunn’s New Domestic Physician listed all the currently accepted uses: diuretic, astringent, tonic, parturient. The Canadian Pharmacy Journal included Mitchella in a list of medicinal plants of Canada in 1868. Maude Grieve included it in her 1931 Modern Herbal (although I doubt that Grieve ever saw the plant, because she claims it has “clover-like leaves.”) Mrs. C. F. Leyel (1943) suggested daily use during the last month of pregnancy, following the example of Cherokee women. Mitchella is included in Foster and Duke’s Field Guide to Medicinal Plants (1990). As of the summer of 1999, Mitchella repens (folia and radix) is an item of herbal commerce, with a wholesale price of $15 to $20 per pound.

Internally, the leaves (sometimes the berries) have been used to remedy a variety of urinary and uterine problems, hormonal problems, digestive problems, and nervous system problems. Externally, the berries (occasionally the leaves), mashed with fat, are applied with much success to heal nursing moms’ sore nipples, treat sore eyes, and ease rheumatic pain. The National Formulary listed Mitchella as an astringent, diuretic, and tonic.

Vogel tells us, “Most investigators have found Indians reluctant to give details of such remedies [female medicine], as is indicated by Speck’s cryptic note [1905] on the use of this plant [Mitchella] by the Penobscots: non-specific—to be steeped.” Other reported American Indian uses include the Montagnais (1915) using berries against fever; the Chippewa (1928) smoking leaves; the Iroquois (1916) eating berries; the Ojibwa (1933) using as nonspecific medicine; the Menomini (1923) using leaf tea against insomnia; and the Iroquois (1970) using berries as parturient.

In the Eclectic Materia Medica, both Extractum Mitchellae and Syrupus Mitchellae Compositus (containing Mitchella, Helonias/Chamaelirium, Viburnum, and Caulophyllum) are listed. (Compare this formula with the similar one from Clymer, following.)

Mitchella has been cited as useful to aid in childbirth, prepare for childbirth, increase uterine contractions, prevent miscarriage, ease nervousness leading to miscarriage, interfere with habitual miscarriage, promote full-term fetal development, ensure smooth, easy delivery; nourish the uterus, restore the uterus, relieve enfeebled uterine nervous systems, correct uterine derangements including dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, and menorrhagia; moderate the menses, relieve menstrual pain, stop genital discharges, reduce profuse menstruation, counter fibroids; alleviate diarrhea, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, and phlebitis; alleviate constipation; counter suppression of urine, stimulate the kidneys, ease difficult or scanty urination, relieve excessive water retention, edema, and dropsy; relieve insomnia; increase lactation; and improve energy.

It doesn’t take much imagination to connect Mitchella’s unusual flowering characteristic—two flowers make one berry—with human fertility. Every reference book I consulted insists that Mitchella was called sq—— vine because Native American women used it. Dr. Smith in the Botanic Physician of 1860 states the general paternalistic view: “I first obtained knowledge of its use from a tribe of Indians in the west part of New York. The squaws drank it in decoction for two or three weeks previous to and during delivery, and it was the use of it that rendered that generally dreaded event so remarkably safe and easy with them.” (My italics.)

James Duke and Steven Foster report that Mitchella is primarily used in cases of delayed, irregular, or painful menses, and difficult childbirth. R. S. Clymer reports that American Indian women used Mitchella as a tea or infusion throughout pregnancy to assure proper development of the child, render parturition both safe and easy, and at the same time develop lactation. He advocates continual use of the tea or tincture during pregnancy and for the entire course of lactation, especially if the woman suffers from “unpleasant nervous reflexes.”

I devoted half a page to this “renowned uterine tonic” in my first book, Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year, including a recipe from Jeannine Parvati Baker, who says:

A woman with an “incompetent” cervix who had lost five babies and delivered all her others early took this formula faithfully, and carried full term. Combine one ounce each: false unicorn root (Chamaelirium luteum), wild yam root (Dioscorea villosa), partridgeberry leaves (Mitchella repens), and one-half ounce cramp bark (Viburnun opulus). Simmer for 20 minutes in a quart of water. Take one wineglassful every four hours until symptoms of miscarriage cease. They will.

“Mother’s Antispasmodic Compound #410,” suitable for the last six weeks of pregnancy, contained Mitchella and was sold by Indiana Botanic Gardens for most of the twentieth century. Most authors boast that Mitchella facilitates labor, while just as many swear that it stops labor and forestalls miscarriage. Many authors say that Mitchella is to be used when there is debility, exhaustion, or irritability; yet it is classified as cooling and relieving of congestion.

Mitchella is widely recommended to prevent and stop miscarriage. Jethro Kloss teams it with wild yam and raspberry for this purpose. R. S. Clymer uses Mitchella frequently in his classic Nature’s Healing Agents. Here are some of his formulas.

(Simmer herbs in 4 cups water, gradually reducing to 3 cups. Sweeten, cool, bottle. Use 2 fluid ounces, 3–4 times a day.)

Alma Hutchens makes a telling remark: “It is best to combine [Mitchella] with other herbs.” And, as Mildred Fielder says: “Even the whites recognized it as a minor drug.” (Emphasis mine.) Consider the actual worth of Mitchella in formulas such as this one against chills and fevers: goldenseal, Peruvian bark, and Mitchella. Or this one for sore nipples: glycerine, tincture of myrrh, and partridgeberries. Or this for sore eyes: witch hazel leaves, raspberry leaves, Mitchella leaves. The more I read about Mitchella, the more obvious it became that it was not a critical ingredient in any of the formulas in which it is found. Every Dr. Christopher formula including Mitchella, save one, also contains Caulophyllum, Chamaelirium, Cimicifuga, or Trillium, roots well known to have a powerful effect on the female reproductive system. (Because these indigenous American roots are suffering from severe overharvesting, they ought not to be considered substitutes for Mitchella.)

It seems to me that Mitchella has few strengths. All of her properties are mild, and better represented by other, much more common, and often far more effective plants. She is a uterine tonic, especially during late pregnancy, but so are common weeds such as raspberry, dandelion, yellow dock, and motherwort. She is astringent, and has been used against skin problems and sore eyes; but oak, witch hazel, even blackberry are better astringents, and more common. She does have a mild diuretic effect, and has been recommended for those dealing with kidney stones, gravel, and other urinary ailments—the mother tincture is used by homeopaths to treat those with irritated bladders, kidney pain, and dysuria—but yarrow, nettle, and horsetail are not only more easily gathered in quantity, but also more effective in my experience.

Most authors suggest the whole fresh plant tincture: a deep orange-red liquid. American Indian women are reported to have drunk a strong tea, freely. It is rather tasteless, with the slightest hint of wintergreen to it. Grieve, Christopher, and Lloyd prefer the decoction. A few authors, including Lewis, maintain that the berries are preferable to the leaves, and were the primary part used by American Indians. Collecting a lot of berries seems a formidable task because, even in a good year, they are by no means profuse. Most authors assume little toxicity, but the herb is rarely used in quantity or for long periods of time, so toxicity is less likely to develop.

The dosage of Mitchella varies according to the strength of the remedy and the inclination of the herbalist. A tea of 1 teaspoonful of dried leaves steeped for fifteen minutes in 1 cup of boiling water must be consumed lavishly, at least 3 cups a day, for effect. Of a strong tea, made by brewing an ounce of the dried leaves in a quart of boiling water for four hours, as little as a cup a day may prove effective. Reduce the strong tea by half (a decoction) and 2 to 4 ounces daily is the dose. If you make a medicinal vinegar from the fresh leaves, 1 to 3 tablespoonfuls per day is all you’ll need. The dose of dried leaf tincture is 1 to 3 drops twice a day, while the dose of fresh leaf tincture is only 5 to 15 drops, which may be taken up to three times a day.

Most books, including mine, follow the standard advice: Use Mitchella for the last six weeks of pregnancy. But some authors, including Dr. Christopher and Jeannine Parvati Baker, maintain that it is safe, and more effective in many cases, to use Mitchella throughout pregnancy. Otherwise, it is used only as needed to relieve symptoms.

FOR SORE NIPPLES

Two ounces of fresh herb is boiled in 2 cups of water until reduced by half. The herb is strained out and as much fresh good cream as there is decoction (about a cup) is added. Then the whole is boiled down to the consistency of soft salve, and used to anoint the breast before and after nursing.

Sowing Mitchella repens from seeds is quite rewarding. The plant is dioecious, with male and female flowers on different plants. In order to produce berries, both a female and a male plant must be present. The bright red berries contain numerous yellowish seeds. These seeds do not remain viable in dry storage, but must be kept in the fresh or semidried berry or in moist peat moss in the refrigerator to retain their fertility in storage. The seed is an extended multicycle germinator, and must be removed from the berry prior to planting, because the fruit of the berry contains germination-inhibiting compounds. Fresh seeds planted in the fall will show some germination the following spring, but many of these seeds will remain quiescent until the next spring, and even after three years new plants will come up. Mitchella has developed this long, sporadic germination cycle as a survival response to environmental disturbances such as drought or fire. The plant relies on birds to remove the seeds from the fruit, and to transport them to likely growing places in the forest shade. In domestic culture the seeds may be planted directly in the shade garden, in outdoor nursery beds, in the forest, or in an unheated greenhouse. The patient gardener may expect germination as the winter-cold ground warms into spring.

To propagate the plants from stem cuttings, simply snip off a rooted stem from a mature plant and transplant this to the desired location. The rooted stem is buried shallowly in the soil, with leaves up toward the sun, and mulched with rotted leaves or rotted bark mulch. Always water the cutting immediately after transplant, and keep it moist until the new plant is well established. Remember that this plant is actually a clone of the parent. In order to maintain more diversity in the cultivated population, it is a good idea to obtain cuttings from numerous individuals and intersperse these plants with others, grown from seeds. This will help assure the presence of male and female plants and preserve genetic diversity.

Mitchella is a delightful plant for the moist shade garden, and prospers in many localities far removed from its native range. It also does well in the partial shade of deciduous forests, and will tolerate the acidic soils of conifer forests. When planted in the garden or agri-forest, it will benefit from a yearly application of organic compost and rotted leaf mulch. Because it ceases to grow when ground moisture is used up, it makes sense to water the plants during drought, to assure ample production of the leaf and stem that make the medicine.

Because partridgeberry is an evergreen perennial plant, you can harvest its leaves anytime you need them, even during the winter. New growth on the vines occurs during the early summer, concurrent with blooming, and continues until the berries are formed and red, usually late autumn; I generally avoid harvesting during this time. (Unless I am actually using the flower of a plant, I tend to leave it alone while it is “having sex.”) David Hoffmann, one of the few authors to address this question, states the opposite: Harvest the plant only while in flower!

Most authors agree that the fresh plant is preferable, especially for making salves and tinctures. To dry the leaves for teas and decoctions, spread in a layer on a screen or shallow basket and air-dry out of the sun, but at room temperature or warmer.

UpS RECOMMENDATIONS

• Use the wild-harvested plant only when necessary; otherwise use only cultivated resources.

• Motherwort and catnip are good alternatives. Also, use instead raspberry leaf for childbirth preparation and peppermint for painful periods and colitis.

Christopher, Dr. John R. School of Natural Healing. Springvale, Utah: Christopher Publications, 1976.

Clymer, R. S., M.D. Nature’s Healing Agents. 1905. Reprint, Philadelphia: Dorrance, 1963.

Densmore, Frances. How Indians Use Wild Plants for Food, Medicine and Crafts. 1928. Reprint, New York: Dover Publications, 1974.

Ellingwood, Finley. American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy. 1898. Reprint, Portland, Oreg.: Eclectic Medical Publications, 1983.

Erichsen-Brown, Charlotte. Use of Plants for the Past 500 Years. Aurora, Ont.: Breezy Creek, 1979.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd. King’s American Dispensatory. 1898. Reprint, Portland, Oreg.: Eclectic Medical Pub, 1983.

Fielder, Mildred. Plant Medicine and Folklore. Tulsa, Okla.: Winchester, 1975.

Foster, Steven, and James A. Duke. Peterson’s Field Guide: Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.

Hoffmann, David. The New Holistic Herbal. Rockport, Mass.: Element Books, 1995.

Hutchens, Alma. Indian Herbalogy of North America. Windsor, Ont.: Merco Publishing, 1973.

Krochmal, Arnold, and Connie Krochmal. Guide to Medicinal Plants of the United States. New York: Quadrangle, 1973.

Mabey, Richard. The New Age Herbalist. New York: Collier Books, Macmillan, 1988.

Mills, Simon. Dictionary of Modern Herbalism. Rochester, Vt.: Healing Arts Press, 1988.

Millspaugh, Charles F. American Medicinal Plants, an Illustrated and Descriptive Guide to the American Plants Used as Homeopathic Remedies. 1884–1885. Reprint, New York: Dover, 1974.

Vogel, Virgil J. American Indian Medicine. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.

Weed, Susun S. Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year. Woodstock, N.Y: Ash Tree, 1986.