Two-leaved Toothwort is an erect perennial forb of the springtime growing 8 to 16 inches high on an unbranched stem. Bloom time varies with the seasonal weather - from as early as mid-April to as late as mid-May.

The leaves are of two types, basal and stem. The stem leaves number just two, with the two leaf stalks appearing opposite each other or just slightly offset - sub-opposite - hence the common name of "two-leaved." These stem leaves have 3-parted leaflets not deeply cut like Cardamine concatenata - the Cut-leaved Toothwort. The leaflets are shaped the same - broadly elliptic to ovate in shape with coarse dentations on the margins. Each leaflet is either without a stalk or a very short stalk. The basal leaves rise from the rootstock, usually after flowering, and are similar in design to the stem leaves.

The inflorescence is a tall loose cluster of stalked flowers rising on a single central stem (a raceme) above the leaves. The stalk of the cluster and the individual flower stalks can be green to reddish in color and can have some very fine hair. There are no bracts to the cluster. Like many Mustard family plants, the raceme elongates as the flower buds begin to open.

The flowers are 4-parted, small (usually less than 2/3 inch wide) with a tubular calyx that has 4 light green oblong sepals with obtuse tips. The four petals are white to pinkish, much longer than the sepals and have rounded tips. The reproductive parts include six stamens where the two inner pair have filaments (white) longer than an outside pair. Anthers are linear, yellowish-green in color. There is a single style, reddish toward the globose shaped stigma.

Seed: Mature flowers can produce a linear dry pod (called a silique), usually ascending, that contains oblong brown seeds. However, this species rarely produces seeds but when it does the pod splits open with a twist to eject mature seeds. Seeds usually require at least 60 days of cold stratification for germination. Divisions of the root are used for propagating.

Habitat: Toothwort grows from a horizontal un-segmented rhizome which can spread producing colonies of plants. It requires moderate moisture levels, rich soils such as in woods, woodland edges. Full to partial sun is needed up to flowering, then partial to full shade for the summer. Located in the Eloise Butler Woodland Garden in various places.

Names: "Toothwort" refers to the rootstalk, not of this species, but of C. concatenata, which has teeth-like segments that resemble a string of beads or "teeth" as some observe. The name is kept for C. diphylla due to the similarity of the plant. Botanists have recently placed this plant into the genus Cardamine instead of the former Dentaria where the plant was called Dentaria diphylla. The species name diphylla is Greek, referring to "two-leaved." Cardamine is derived from the Greek kardamon, the Greek name for a certain cress (also in the Mustard family). Plants assigned to this genus of the Mustard family have stem leaves, linear ovaries, very short sepals, seeds flattened in pods that split open when mature, stems that do not root at the nodes and rhizomatous roots.

The author names for the plant classification are as follows: First to publish was ‘Michx.’ which refers to Andre Michaux (1746-1802), French botanist who made many exploring expeditions in the U.S. collecting and cataloging many species. Two important works of his are the Histoire des chênes de l'Amérique septentrionale (1801 - Oaks of North America), and the Flora Boreali-Americana (2 vols., 1803) published posthumously, in which was the description of this plant. His son Francois, traveled with him and the father’s notes were later used for the 3-volume North American Sylva. Michaux's work was updated by ‘Alph. Wood’ which refers to Alphonso Wood (1810-1881) American botanist and Professor of Botany at the Female Seminary of Cleveland Ohio. He wrote several books on botany that made scientific research available for distribution as textbooks. His name is sometimes listed as A.W.Wood.

Comparisons: Toothwort has similar appearing flowers to C. concatenata, the Cut-leaved Toothwort but on that species the leaflets are very deeply cut into palmate divisions and the stem leaves are usually 3 in a whorl, although there can be only two. It usually sets seed in the silique and the rhizome is segmented.