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The bright red partridgeberry stands out in the winter woods on its evergreen vines. Each berry is formed from two flowers, thus producing two little bumps or spikes on the bottom. This is one way to identify partridgeberry from the similar teaberry. (Recorder photo by Charles Garratt) HIDDEN VALLEY - Mid to late winter is a difficult time to find food for birds and other animals in the Highlands. Red berries standout against the forest floor or in a light snow making them easy to find.

The partridgeberry, Mitchella repens, is one of the bright little foods scattered through the forest of the Highlands using red fruits to assure its seeds will be collected and spread by hungry mouths. Though listed as edible by many sources, partridgeberries are considered more medicinal than as food for humans.

Wild food guru Euell Gibbons doesn't even list partridgeberry in his classic book "Stalking the wild asparagus." Another red winter berry of the Highlands, teaberry, is discussed in length by Gibbons.

The Peterson field guide, "Ed- ible Wild Plants," does list the partridgeberry as edible, but doesn't give it much of a recommendation. The Peterson guide lists the berries for nibbling during woodland hikes and for use in salads. "The dry, seedy berries make a colorful, if tasteless, addition to salads," according to Peterson.

Partridgeberry is supposedly a favorite food of the partridge, thus the name. It is also known as chicken berry, eye berry, hive vine, mountain tea, pudding plum and squaw plum. In the past, it was used as a diuretic and tonic to invoke overall general wellness.

The flowers are small, white and fragrant and appear in late spring to early summer. The flowers occur in pairs with the ovaries united. After pollination, the two flowers form a single berry. The bottom of the berry has marks where the two corol- las were attached.

Partridgeberry likes rich deciduous woods with acidic soil, a habitat common in the Highlands. Large patches of partridge berry vines can be found year around since the leaves are evergreen and the berries persist throughout winter if not eaten.

The plant is perennial and the vines creep across the woodland floor often forming dense mats. Partridgeberry leaves are smaller, rounder and lay closer to the ground than teaberry. The tasteless berry is also distinctly different from the wintergreen flavor of the teaberry.

Winter hikes are a good time to note the location of patches partridgeberry and teaberry and other small evergreen plants. By late spring when partridgeberry blooms, the small white flowers can be difficult to find among the plethora of bright flowers and new green leaves of larger plants.