BARBERRY FAMILY BERBERIDACEAE 
TWINLEAF. RHEUMATISM ROOT 
Jeffersonia diphylla (L.) Pers. 
In rich woods of the central and northern parts of the state, 
as well as throughout the Great Lakes region and south to 
Tennessee, grows a plant that in many respects resembles the 
Bloodroot, page 119, but is 
more closely related to the 
Common Barberry. This 
is the Twinleaf or Rheuma- 
tism Root. It received its 
generic name in honor of 
Thomas Jefferson. 
Each blade of the long- 
petioled basal leaves is 
divided into 2 leaflets which 
appear exactly alike and so 
account for the name Twin- 
leaf. At flowering time the 
leaves are small but later 
their stalks may become I 
foot in length and the blades 
4 inches long or longer. 
The flower stalk also elon- 
gates and may be 1 foot or 
more in length by the time 
the fruit is mature. 
The stalk, slender and 
leafless, arises in April or 
May and bears a solitary 
white flower. The sepals 
fall off as the flower opens but there remain about 8 petals, as 
many stamens and a solitary pistil with a 2-lobed stigma. The 
pear-shaped pod fruit opens by a half-lid at the top. Numerous 
seeds are arranged in several rows. Each seed has upon 1 side 
a fleshy outgrowth called an aril. Ants feed on this aril and 
frequently carry the seeds from place to place, thus aiding their 
dissemination. 
A moonlit path hemmed in by beds of bloom, 
Where phlox and marigolds dispute for room 
With tall, red dahlias and the briar rose. 
The Fruit Garden Path—AMY LOWELL 
116 
