Twinleaf
Jeffersonia diphylla
Found in forests and woodlands. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 9 inches–1.5 feet
- Spread
- 6–9 inches
- Light
- Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- March to April
- Fruiting season
- May
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 4 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 99 animals.
- Golden-crowned KingletRegulus satrapa
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Hairy WoodpeckerPicoides villosus
- Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
- Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
- Hooded WarblerWilsonia citrina
- Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
- Least FlycatcherEmpidonax minimus
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Mississippi KiteIctinia mississippiensis
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Orange-crowned WarblerVermivora celata
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
Who uses this plant?
2AntsRecorded seed interactions
- Aphaenogaster rudis
- Formica subsericea
Aphaenogaster rudis: Seed dispersal.
Formica subsericea: Seed dispersal.
No records yet · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Berberidaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5a–7b
- Soil pH
- Acidic
- Flower color
- White
- Fruit begins
- May
- Fruit ends
- May
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “March to April” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “May” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “May” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 5a–7b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “9 inches–1.5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil pH · “Acidic” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “6–9 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

























