Twinleaf, Helmet Pod, Ground Squirrel Pea

This is a beautiful native spring ephemeral. The flowers are lovely, but as fleeting as those of bloodroot. The leaves are dark purple wh...Read Moreen emerging, but then turn green after a few days, like those of Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica.

It does not have rhizomes or stolons, does not spread except by seed, and does not lend itself to propagation by division. The foliage goes dormant in late spring, so it can hardy serve as a groundcover.

In the wild and in the garden, the seeds are spread by ants. I see self-sown seedlings near the original plants.

I recently saw this plant at Monticello. Its common name, Twinleaf, is the name of the newsletter produced by the horticulture folks at M...Read Moreonticello. I purchased a small plant at Garden in the Woods (N.E. Wildflower Society) in MA last weekend. It's a lovely wildflower to plant with trillium and epimedium, as someone else commented above. I'll patiently wait for it to flower in the years ahead.

Zone 4a hardy, slow to flower I planted some last year and two years ago they came up fine but hadn't flower yet. Interesting foliage and...Read More make a nice company to Trilliums and Bloodroots.
Update 2008: It bloomed last year and are blooming again this year with small bloodroot - like flowers

According to the Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants, American Indians used a root tea for cramps, spasms, nervous excitability, dia...Read Morerrhea, kidney stones, dropsy, urinary infections, gargle for sore throats. CAUTION: PROBABLY TOXIC.