BISHOPS-CAP 



Mitella diphylla L. 



April - May "Diphylla", two leaved — that is the Inshop's-cap, a 

 Woods simple, spring plant whose thin stem bears two leaves 



which almost clasp about half way up the stalk. It is a 

 stalk set with snowflakes. Xo other ilower, perhaps, is patterned so much 

 like a snowflake, nor holds that resemblance consistently until the flowers 

 are done and the tiny seed pods open to show a pair of glistening black 

 seeds. 



Bishop's-cap lacks one or two qualities of proper snowflakes. In 

 number, the floAver divisions are five instead of the crystalline six; it is 

 not as fragile and fleeting as a snowflake, though a prenuiturely hot day 

 in spring will send it quickly out of bloom. 



The flower is just a cupped calyx from which extend five petals 

 which are so deeply and finely cut that they are thready and snowflake- 

 like without any exaggeration of simile. Perhaps no other Illinois flower 

 has petals of so little substance. 



Bishop's-cap is about six to eight inches tall. It grows in narrow, 

 cool ravines where the soil is deep with old leaf-mold and perpetual 

 moisture, and in oak woods with cool northern slo})es. It blooms in late 

 April and is a member of the varied Saxifrage family. 



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