''Mitella diphylla'' (twoleaf miterwort,
two-leaved mitrewort,
or bishop's cap)
is a clump forming, open woodland plant native to northeast and midwest regions of North America.
Description
Miterwort grows from a
rhizomatous
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
root system with
fibrous roots. Leaves are coarsely toothed with 3-5 shallow lobes.
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
raceme
A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...
s on stems growing from tall.
The seeds are tiny, ,
produced in small green cups, formed from the sepals of the flower, and when ripe are shiny and black.
They are spread when raindrops hit the cups and splash the seeds out.
It grows in high quality mesic forests on moist, mossy ledges and north-facing slopes. The Latin specific epithet ''diphylla'' means two-leaved and is in reference to the non-basal leaves.
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
The sweat bee genus ''Lasioglossum'' is the largest of all bee genera, containing over 1700 species in numerous subgenera worldwide.Gibbs, J., et al. (2012)Phylogeny of halictine bees supports a shared origin of eusociality for ''Halictus'' an ...
'' sweat bees,
small carpenter bees
The cosmopolitan bee genus ''Ceratina'', often referred to as small carpenter bees, is the sole lineage of the tribe Ceratinini, and is not closely related to the more familiar carpenter bees. The genus presently contains over 300 species in 23 s ...
(''Ceratina'') and
hoverflies
Hover flies, also called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, whi ...
.
Cultivation
This species is grown as an
ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...
in shade gardens. It prefers wet-mesic to dry soil and partial shade.
References
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External links
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diphylla
The hairy-legged vampire bat (''Diphylla ecaudata'') is one of three extant species of vampire bats. It mainly feeds on the blood of wild birds, but can also feed both on domestic birds and humans. This vampire bat lives mainly in tropical and su ...
Flora of Northern America
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Saxifragaceae-stub