Jeffersonia diphylla (L.) Pers.:
Canada (North America)
United States (North America)

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: Eastern United States and southern Canada, from central and western New York (Young pers. comm.), Ontario (Kartesz 1999), Pennsylvania (Kunsman pers. comm.), and southern lower Michigan (Penskar pers. comm.) west to the northeast corner of Iowa (Pearson pers. comm.), Minnesota (USDA-NRCS 1999); south to northern Alabama (Schotz pers. comm.). In the east, confined to the ridge and valley province of the mid-Atlantic states (Frye pers. comm.).

Plants of Jeffersonia diphylla were used medicinally by Native Americans for treatment of dropsy, gravel and urinary ailments, and for gall and diarrhea, and in poultices for sores and ulcers (D. E. Moermann 1986).

Leaves: petiole slender, erect, 9-25 cm at anthesis, maturing to 18-43 cm. Leaf blade 2-foliolate, often with minute apiculation between leaflets; leaflets 1.2-4 × 0.6-2.5 cm at anthesis, maturing to 6-13 × 3-7 cm, lobes rounded to acute. Scapes 9-33 cm, frequently taller than petioles at anthesis. Flowers: sepals elliptic to obovate, 7-15 × 4-6 mm; petals white, elliptic to obovate, 11-22 × 9-12 mm; stamens 6-12 mm; filaments 2-3 mm; anthers 4-9 × 1-1.5 mm; ovaries 6-11 × 3-7 mm. Fruits 18-38 × 8-17 mm, leathery, opening transversely, apical quarter resembling lid, becoming reflexed. Seeds oblong, 4-7 × 2 mm; aril laciniate, attached at adaxial side of hilum. 2 n = 12.

Podophyllum diphyllum Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 505. 1753

Comments: This species is found in rich, mesic mixed hardwood forests with a clear affinity for limestone (Kunsman pers. comm., Young pers. comm., Homoya pers. comm.), or rarely in association with glacial till or moraine features toward the north end of its distribution (Penskar pers. comm., Homoya pers. comm.). It is typically encountered near streams, in floodplains or on steep, moist, rocky slopes, where it is locally abundant (Young pers. comm., Pearson pers. comm., Kunsman pers. comm., Penskar pers. comm., Pittillo pers. comm.). Associate species include: Fagus, Celtis, Quercus muehlenbergii, Acer saccharum, Ulmus rubra, Hybanthus concolor, Delphinium tricorne, Cercis canadensis, Ulmus spp., Hydrastis canadensis, and Sanguinaria canadensis (Schotz pers. comm., Kunsman pers. comm., Penskar pers. comm.).

Flowering early spring; fruiting spring. Rich moist woods to semiopen rocky slopes and outcrops, usually over limestone or other calcareous rocks; 100-800 m; Ont.; Ala., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Ky., Md., Mich., Minn., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., Tenn., Va., W.Va., Wis.

Jeffersonia diphylla (Twin-Leaf)
(Only pollen is produced; bees collect pollen, while Syrphid flies explore the flowers; all observations are from Graenicher)

Bees (long-tongued)
Anthophoridae (Ceratinini): Ceratina dupla dupla

Bees (short-tongued)
Halictidae (Halictinae): Augochlorella striata, Halictus confusus, Lasioglossum anomalis, Lasioglossum coriaceus, Lasioglossum foxii, Lasioglossum tegularis, Lasioglossum zephyrus

Flies
Syrphidae: Syrphus ribesii exp

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 81 to >300

Comments: Estimated that several hundred populations are extant rangewide. Alabama: >10; Iowa: 6; Indiana: hundreds or thousands; Maryland: 2-3+; Michigan: 25; North Carolina: 1; New York: 13; Tennessee: 34+ (Brumback and Mehrhoff 1996, APSU 1999).

Since this is such a common species throughout much of its range, these numbers can only be estimates. Additional information on species distribution and the number of populations can be gleaned from county occurrence dot maps (USDA-NRCS 1999). The largest populations and most regular occurrence in suitable habitat is toward the centroid of the distribution of this species, such as in Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky (Schotz pers. comm., Homoya pers. comm.).

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 0
Species: 2
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N4 - Apparently Secure

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5 - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: This species is has a relatively broad range in eastern North America and is locally very abundant in central portions of its range. This species apparently tolerates low levels of habitat disturbance (Homoya pers. comm.).

Comments: No apecific evidence has been found to suggest that this species is currently being sought for the medicinal plant trade. It may experience very low-level collection as an ornamental.

A person knowledgable about the herbal medicinal trade has never seen the plant in trade, but speculates that it probably receives some local use (M. McGuffin pers. comm.).

As with all native forest herbs, habitat conversion and urban/rural development are significant direct threats (Young pers. comm., Penskar pers. comm., Homoya pers. comm., Pittman pers. comm., Kunsman pers. comm., Pearson pers. comm., Frye pers. comm., Schotz pers. comm.). Equally significant threats include habitat fragmentation and displacement by exotic species (Homoya pers. comm., Penskar pers. comm., Frye pers. comm., Enser pers. comm.). Locally, limestone quarrying is one of the development pressures on this species given its affinity for limestone substrate (Kunsman pers. comm.). This species may be relatively protected in portions of its range by its occurrence in steep, less-developable sites (Homoya pers. comm.). However, the Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project (2002) reports that this species occurs in highly productive sites for timber, putting at risk from forest management practices.

Biological Research Needs: Better identification and delineation of habitat requirements, perhaps through habitat modeling research, would be an important part of identifying potential sites and guiding searches for this species (Amoroso pers. comm.).