Jeffersonia diphylla is a spring-blooming perennial of forests of eastern North America. It was named in 1792 by Benjamin Smith Barton, professor of botany and natural history at the University of Pennsylvania, to honor his friend and fellow natural history enthusiast, Thomas Jefferson. Its flowers last only a few days, often appearing about the time of Jefferson’s birthday, April 13, but are earlier some years.
The flowers of Jeffersonia diphylla resemble those of bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) and bloom about the same time as Bloodroot, but Jeffersonia diphylla belongs to a different family from Bloodroot. The blooms last only a few days. The leaves are not actually twin or double, as the common name and the species epithet suggest, but rather are single and deeply divided into two, half-ovate leaflets. The unusual fruit capsule opens by a lid near the tip to release the seeds.
Jeffersonia diphylla grows in rich woods, most commonly in the mountains, but also on slopes and floodplains along streams of the Piedmont.
There are 143 records in the project database.
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