twoleaf miterwort

not listed

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

not listed

FACU - Facultative upland

FACU - Facultative upland

FACU - Facultative upland

Twoleaf miterwort, also known as bishop’s cap, is a common, small, woodland wildflower. It occurs in the United States from New Hampshire to Minnesota south to Georgia and Arkansas, and in southern Quebec and Ontario Canada. It is common in the eastern two-thirds of Minnesota, where it reaches the western extent of its range, and mostly absent from the western third of the state. It is found in open upland forests and woodlands, on wooded hillsides and rocky bluffs, and in shady ravines. It grows under partial shade in rich soil

Twoleaf miterwort is a 4″ to 16″ (10 to 40 cm) tall perennial forb that rises on basal leaves and one to five flowering stalks from a short, stout, underground stem (rhizome).

Basal leaves are 9⁄16″ to 3⅜″ (1.4 to 8.5 cm) long, and 9⁄16″ to 3¾″ (1.4 to 9.6 cm) wide, about as long to slightly longer than wide. They are on ¾″ to 7″ (1.8 to 18.0 cm) long leaf stalks. The petiole is moderately to densely covered with long, backward-pointing, white or tan, gland-tipped hairs, and also sparsely to densely covered with minute stalked glands. The leaf blades are egg-shaped to nearly circular in outline and have usually 3, sometimes 5 shallow lobes. They are palmately veined with usually 5 primary veins, and are heart shaped at the base. The tip of the middle (terminal) lobe is narrowly angled. The upper surface is green and may be hairless or sparsely to moderately covered with long and short hairs. It is sometimes sparsely covered with minute glands near the base. The lower surface is pale green to grayish-green and is sparsely to moderately covered with hairs and glands, especially along the veins. The margins are finely to coarsely scalloped or toothed.

The inflorescence is 1 to 5 erect, unbranched, spike-like flowering stalks (racemes) rising from the rhizome. Each raceme has 5 to 22 or more widely spaced flowers and a single pair of opposite leaves. This is the feature that gives the plant both its common name and species epithet. These leaves are short stalked to almost stalkless, longer than wide, ⅝″ to 3″ (1.6 to 8.0 cm) long, ¼″ to 2½″ (0.7 to 6.5 cm) wide, and otherwise similar to basal leaves. The stalk of the raceme is moderately to densely covered with minute stalked glands below the pair of leaves, and covered with long, downward-pointing, gland-tipped hairs above the leaves. Each flower is on a short stalk (pedicel).

Each flower is about 3⁄16″ (5 mm) wide and looks like a snowflake. There are 5 outer floral leaves (sepals), 5 petals, 10 stamens, and 2 styles. At the base of the flower is an extension of the pedicel (hypanthium) formed from the fused bases of the sepals, petals, and stamens. The hypanthium is broadly and shallowly bell-shaped, 1⁄32″ to 1⁄16″ (1.0 to 1.6 mm) long and 1⁄16″to ⅛″ (2 to 4 mm) wide. The sepals (together the calyx) are greenish-white, triangular, 1⁄32″ (1.0 to 1.3 mm) long and 1⁄32″ (0.8 to 1.1 mm) wide. The petals are white, 1⁄16″to ⅛″ (2 to 4 mm) long, and finely lobed (fringed) with 9 to 15 spreading linear lobes. The stamens have white stalks (filaments) and pale yellow anthers. They are much shorter than the calyx. The styles are short and have crescent-shaped stigmas.

The fruit is a broadly egg-shaped, 2-beaked, open capsule containing 4 to 40 shiny black seeds. The shape resembles a bishop’s cap (miter). This feature is the source of both the common name and the genus name.

4″ to 16″ (10 to 40 cm)

White

Moderately moist to dry. Upland forests and woodlands, wooded hillsides, rocky bluffs, and shady ravines. Partial shade. Rich soil.

May to June

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Native

Common

Two-leaf Miterwort Mitella diphylla with Hepaticas on the left and ferns

Location: Bald Eagle Bluff SNA

Two-leaf Miterwort Mitella diphylla with Hepaticas on the left and ferns