Twinleaf - Jeffersonia diphylla

With flowers that bloom and fade within a day in the early weeks of April, it doesn't take long to miss the blooms of Twinleaf. Luckily, the leaves are where this plant's true beauty lies. Large but deeply lobed, the distinct leaves look more like a congregation of green butterflies, flitting and dancing in the breeze as they delight in each other's company mere inches above the ground. But even the flitting is fleeting as Twinleaf is an ephemeral. By summertime, any evidence of this once whimsical scene disappears entirely and our patience must endure until spring to see the darling Twinleaf butterflies again.

Photo: Samantha Nestory