Mitella diphylla

Mitella diphylla
Mitella diphylla from the Botanical Gardens at Asheville, NC
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Saxifragaceae
Genus: Mitella
Species: M. diphylla
Binomial name
Mitella diphylla
L.

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.

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 centimetres (7.9 to 19.7 in) tall.

The seeds are tiny, 1.2–1.6 mm,[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 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 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. 1 2 Hilty, John (2016). "Bishop's Cap". Illinois Wildflowers.
  4. 1 2 "Mitella diphylla". Flora of North America. (FNA). Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 26 April 2016 – via EFloras.org.
  5. ↑ Katy Chayka (2016). "Mitella diphylla (Two-leaf Miterwort)". MinnesotaWildflowers.info.
  6. 1 2 Heather Holm (2014). Pollinators on Native Plants. Minnetonka, MN: Pollinator Press. pp. 110–111.


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