Diphylleia cymosa – Umbrella Leaf

An unusual and rare plant from the Southern Appalachians that has grown well for us here in the Catskill Mountains. Large lobed leaves are cleft halfway down the middle, so as to appear like a pair of wings rather than a single leaf. The small white flowers that appear in a flat cluster above the foliage are not particularly showy but they are followed by blue fruits carried on contrasting red pedicels. Plants require a few years to reach full size – they eventually form tight, nonspreading clumps and for best effect plant in drifts of at least a few plants.