Mitella diphylla

Mitella diphylla (twoleaf miterwort,[1] two-leaved mitrewort,[2] or bishop's cap)[3] is a clump forming, open woodland plant native to eastern North America.

Two-leaved miterwort
Mitella diphylla from the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, NC
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Saxifragaceae
Genus: Mitella
Species:
M. diphylla
Binomial name
Mitella diphylla

Description

Miterwort grows from a rhizomatous root system with fibrous roots. Leaves are coarsely toothed with 3-5 shallow lobes.[4] Most leaves are basal, and there is one opposite pair of stemless leaves on each flower stalk.

Tiny flowers with finely divided, lacy white petals are produced in mid-spring in racemes on stems growing from 20 to 50 cm (8 to 20 in) tall.

The seeds are tiny, 1.2–1.6 mm (0.05–0.06 in),[4] produced in small green cups, formed from the sepals of the flower, and when ripe are shiny and black.[5] They are spread when raindrops hit the cups and splash the seeds out.[3]

Ecology

The flowers produce both pollen and nectar. Due to their small size, they are mainly visited by small bees and flies: for instance, Lasioglossum sweat bees, small carpenter bees (Ceratina) and hoverflies.[6]

Cultivation

This species is grown as an ornamental plant in shade gardens. It prefers wet-mesic to dry soil and partial shade.[6]

References
  1. "Mitella diphylla". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  2. "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. Hilty, John (2016). "Bishop's Cap (Mitella diphylla)". Illinois Wildflowers.
  4. Soltis, Douglas E.; Freeman, Craig C. (2009). "Mitella diphylla". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). 8. New York and Oxford. Retrieved 26 April 2016 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  5. Chayka, Katy; Dziuk, Peter (2016). "Mitella diphylla (Two-leaf Miterwort)". Minnesota Wildflowers.
  6. Heather Holm (2014). Pollinators on Native Plants. Minnetonka, MN: Pollinator Press. pp. 110–111.
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