Twinleaf

Description:

Twinleaf is a perennial, glabrous, acaulescent herbaceous species growing to approximately 20 to 30 cm in height, originating from an underground rhizome. The leaves are all basal on petioles (stalks) approximately 1.5 to 3 dm in length, continuing to lengthen after flowering. The leaves are divided into 2 leafelets that are subreniform (kidney-shaped) and 6 to 12 cm in length by 3 to 7 cm in width with entire to wavy leaf margins. In late March to April, solitary, scapose flowers are produced on leafless scapes (stalks) usually extending to just above the leaves. The showy white flower are approximately 2.5 cm broad with 7 to 9, (usually 8) white oblong petals 1 to 2 cm in length and 8 stamens. Twinleaf has 4 petal like sepals which tend to fall off early. The stigma is sub-sessile and 2-lobed. In late April to June, an erect capsule (fruit pod) develops which is approximately 2 cm in length and 1 cm broad, opening transversely below the apex. The capsule contains numerous (approximately 22 to 55 seeds) per capsule. Each seed is approximately 2.0 to 2.5 mm in diameter, each with a conspicuous, oily, white appendage (Patrick et.a. 1995).

Habitat:

Twinleaf inhabits moist and extremely nutrient-rich mesic mixed hardwood forests generally over calcareous or mafic rocks including limestone, lolostone, amphibolite, greenstone, etc., or on very rich alluvium. The species rarely grows in association with glacial till or moraine features (Weakley 2002 and NatureServe 2003). Associate species include: beech (Fagus sp.), hackberry (Celtis sp.), chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), green violet (Hybanthus concolor), dwarf larkspur (Delphinium tricorne), eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), elm (Ulmus spp.), goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), and bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) (NatureServe 2003).

Range:

Twinleaf has a relatively broad range in eastern North America and is locally very abundant in central portions of its range. It grows in the eastern United States and southern Canada, from central and western New York, Ontario, Pennsylvania, and southern lower Michigan, west to the northeast corner of Iowa, Minnesota, south to northern Alabama and northern Georgia. In the eastern United States, twinleaf inhabits the ridge and valley province of the mid-Atlantic states. Twinleaf is locally abundant, sometimes even the dominant herb species (NatureServe 2003). The twinleaf plants on this page were photographed in Walker County, Georgia.