I have had twinleaf in my yard for two years now, and they seem to be doing well except for one thing – they have not yet flowered. The soil composition may be to blame for this – after all, the specimens were grown on a native plants farm in Western Massachusetts. They normally thrive in limestone soils of rich woodlands. Lime may be what is missing, and in the early Spring I will try to amend the soil where they are located.
Twinleaf, which is also known as rheumatism root, is an uncommon wildflower. The plant is not native to Massachusetts but derives from locations West (New York to Minnesota) and Southwest (all the way down to Alabama and Georgia). It is actually considered threatened or endangered in some East coast states (New York and New Jersey come to mind).
Twinleaf is one of the “native neighbors” I have in my yard, along with some non-natives and genuinely native plants. My goal is not to build a native-only plant museum, which would be virtually impossible, but to make natives the majority of plant species in my yard. Nature is in flux, mostly because of human intervention and interference, and I can not revert the changes that have occured. I inherited the yard with some established commercially available non-natives, and all I am doing is to re-introduce native species where I think it makes sense. I believe the result to be beautiful and beneficial to wild life. But you be the judge of that.
Back to twinleaf: The plant has no current medical uses, and is poisonous. However, it had medicinal uses in the past with native Americans. The name is interesting too: The genus was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson by his friend and fellow botanist, William Bartram. The genus only has one other species, Jeffersonia dubia, found in Japan.
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