Jeffersonia diphylla (Twinleaf)

Jeffersonia diphylla (L.) Pers.

Twinleaf

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Magnoliidae	Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others
Order	Ranunculales	Basal (evolved earlier) eudicots, also called “true dicots”
Family	Berberidaceae	Barberry family
Genus	Jeffersonia	Named for Thomas Jefferson
Species	diphylla	Greek for “two-leaved”

About plant names...

Twinleaf is native to eastern North America and eastern Asia. The genus Jeffersonia is named for Thomas Jefferson by his friend, William Bartram, also a botanist. Twinleaf is rare now, considered threatened or endangered in Georgia, Iowa, New York, and New Jersey.

Identification: Twinleaf is so named because each leaf consists of two halves that are mirror images of each other, looking a bit like the wings of a green moth. These slow-growing perennials reach about 8" (20 cm) in size. Each leaf and flower occurs atop its own stem, and all the stems emerge from the base of the plant. Leaves are smooth-edged and two-lobed, and fairly unique in shape. Each flower is white, with 8 petals, 1-1½" (2.5-3.8 cm) in diameter. Fruits, about 1¼" (3.2 cm) high and 1" (2.5 cm) in diameter, are thimble-shaped, with a cap that makes them resemble a bell pepper.

Britton, Nathaniel Lord, and Brown, Addison, An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions, 1913. Courtesy of the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database.