Guide

Look closerPlants

Partridgeberry: the red berry made from two flowers

October to April

Partridgeberry is a small evergreen plant that trails along the forest floor, with small oval to heart-shaped leaves in pairs and bright red berries. Each berry grows from two flowers fused together, so a berry carries two small round scars, one where each flower sat.

Why this time of year

Partridgeberry's fruit ripens by October and often stays on the plant through winter and into spring. Once most deciduous leaves are down, the low evergreens on the forest floor are easier to spot.

How to notice it

  1. On a woodland walk, scan the forest floor for a low, flat mat of small, glossy, oval to heart-shaped leaves in pairs along trailing stems, often near mossy spots, logs, or the base of trees.
  2. Look for a single pea-sized red berry sitting among the leaves.
  3. Crouch down without picking it and look at the berry for two small round marks. Each one is where one of the two twin flowers sat.

Try this with kids: Can you find a red berry on the forest floor and count the two little dots on it? Look with your eyes, and leave it on the plant for the birds.

Safety

  • Do not taste wild berries unless an adult knows for sure what the plant is. Several red berries grow on the forest floor.
  • After kneeling or crouching in leaf litter, check clothes and skin for ticks once you get home.

Sources

  • fs.usda.govUSFS: each berry results from fusion of the ovaries of a pair of flowers; two bright red spots on its surface; both flowers must be pollinated; fruits generally survive through winter into the following spring.
  • gobotany.nativeplanttrust.orgGo Botany: present in Massachusetts; fruits formed from two flowers by fusion of their ovaries; opposite leaves remain green all winter; scrambles along forest floors.
  • gobotany.nativeplanttrust.orgNative Plant Trust answer on a MA specimen: green all winter, fruit with two circular scars where each flower was attached.
  • plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.orgNative Plant Trust: bright red berries last throughout winter; flowers in pairs; both flowers require pollination to produce a single berry.
  • fs.usda.govUSDA FEIS: flowers April-June; fruit ripens July-October and often persists throughout the year.
  • massaudubon.orgMass Audubon November 2022 almanac: with deciduous leaves gone it is easier to see low evergreens on the forest floor including partridgeberry.
  • plants.ces.ncsu.eduNC State Extension: flowers in pairs; berries often persist through winter; opposite glossy leaves.

Checked against these sources on October 16, 2026.

In the guide for October, November, December, January, February, March, April

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